All There Was
by Tastychainsaws
Summary: Swirling dreams of darkness call two friends back to where they once called home. The tragedy of a lost friend sparks questions and the desire for answers, but these two friends will stumble across more than they ever wished to know.
1. Fractures

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART 1**

**FRACTURES**

_**The story is essentially a retelling of what happened after high school based upon a tragedy that occurred.**_

**Best read at night**

_**Ritsu**_

The weather forecast had been wrong; the clear skies that were foretold were replaced with heavy rainclouds eagerly dumping their payload onto the land below. This was particularly annoying for Tainaka Ritsu, who hadn't bothered to bring an umbrella for the trip. She was only a block away from the train station, a good walk still from home, and the rain was only picking up. For now, she stood under a streetlight that glowed in the shadowy light of dusk. It kept her head dry, and the sound of rain sputtering off the shoulders of her leather jacket were like little sporadic drum beats.

There was a feeling of nostalgia walking down those streets close to her old high school. She stood there and saw girls wearing that same uniform she wore daily as they hurried to the platform under their umbrellas. How long ago had it been since she wore that blazer and skirt? Two years now? Felt like longer, but at the same time, it felt like it had only just ended. Watching them, she saw herself with her four best friends and band mates scuttling along in the puddles. It made her miss them, especially Mio, and made her realize that she should have tried so much harder to keep their friendships alive over the last two years.

That was why she was coming back though, to visit her family, and Azusa. She hadn't talked to her twin-tailed friend, Azusa, in nearly a year, and felt it was high time she went and did that. With a bit of money, she would spend a few days catching up and apologizing for not keeping in touch. It was just that Azusa was such a downer to talk to. Maybe she was justified in her emotions, but all it did was depress Ritsu. Azusa hadn't gone on to university, hadn't even tried, and settled with a humiliating job as a janitor at their very school.

After what happened to the Hirasawa sisters, Ritsu didn't really blame her for spiraling into some kind of depression. Everyone had been hit hard by the news, but Azusa had been hit the hardest. Ui, the murder victim of some psychopath, and her sister simply vanishing… Ritsu assumed Yui just couldn't take the grief of seeing her sister like that and had run off to end her life or something. If Satoshi had died the same way, then… Ritsu didn't even want to think about her brother in that scenario. Nobody deserved Ui's fate. It felt like just a random and bizarre murder that was never solved, like it existed for no other reason than to keep people on their toes.

And on her toes Ritsu was, definitely. She finally decided to brave the rain. Adjusting the bags in her hands, she stepped out, but felt no rain touch her hair. Somebody was offering their umbrella from behind.

_Who?_ She thought as she turned around. The person standing there was enough to almost make her jump in surprise.

"Mugi!" Ritsu happily cried. She dropped her bags and threw her arms around the blonde girl, hugging her tight. God, she hadn't changed a bit. Standing there in the rain, she had this bubbly glow about her, the kind that was almost signature for Mugi.

"Ricchan, I didn't think I would see you here!" Mugi hugged her back eagerly. Ritsu was amazed, Mugi even _smelled_ the same.

"Me neither. What a coincidence that we'd both be back on the same day!" She laughed as she let Mugi go, and then went to pick up her own things again. Mugi had two suitcases as well, they looked heavy for her. "Here, let me carry those for you."

"Why thank you, Ricchan. That's so sweet of you."

"No problem, Mugi." She took her friend's luggage without a second thought, struggling to carry everything. "Just asking, don't you have servants for this kind of thing? Why are you here alone?"

"I felt like being alone, away from them. Away from school." Mugi answered, just a tad bit less cheerfully. It made Ritsu wonder if she didn't like the all-girls school she was at now. Was she lonely there? Did the other girls make fun of her?

"I'm here visiting my family, and Azusa as well." Ritsu told her.

"You wanted to see Azusa-chan too?" The blonde seemed suddenly interested, if not surprised.

"Yeah. It's been way too long, I think. She probably needs us right about now, if she hasn't found new friends."

"That was…" Mugi stopped, looking down at the ground. "That was exactly the reason I came, actually. I had a dream where she was scared and alone in a dark place, and I felt like she needed us. No, it wasn't a dream, it was multiple dreams. From my psychology course, I learned that it's probably my mind's way of expressing guilt about how I didn't try to keep in touch with her after school… but… but I think it's more than that. I just needed to see her. I need to see Azusa-chan, so here I am."

"That." Ritsu stated. "That was… that was exactly was going on for me. I had a dream too, or more than one, where Azusa refused to accept that Yui was gone. She kept saying she'd be back and-"

"That actually happened though." Mugi interrupted her.

"Huh?"

"After Yui-chan… um… disappeared, she said we just had to wait for her. Don't you remember, Ricchan?" Mugi was obviously uncomfortable bringing this up again.

"Yeah… yeah, I remember now…" Ritsu felt memories rushing back. "She got mad at us for not believing her. Oh, man, it's so much better that you're here. This is going to make meeting her again so much easier for us both. By the way, where are you staying?"

"I was going to get a hotel room."

Ritsu shifted Mugi's bags in her arms and replied, "Oh no, don't do that, stay with me while you're here. I'm sure my parents won't mind, and I'll pay for any of your expenses so it doesn't burden them."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Mugi gave her a guilty look, afraid of inflicting unnecessary stress on her friend.

"Yeah, definitely okay. I got plenty of extra money now that I quit smoking-"

"You were smoking?" Mugi gasped.

Ritsu blushed, "Y-Yeah. One my buddy's in the academy got my hooked for a little while. It was only a few months. Stupid, stupid gross habit. I don't know why I even started. What about you Mugi? How have you been?"

"Things have been good for me. Mio-chan and I still get together for lunch dates every now and then, but with her boyfriend around I don't get to see her as much." She ended the last part in a sorrowful sigh.

"Yeah, she's now doing what she said she'd do in all those songs." Ritsu chuckled. "Her boyfriend seems like a really nice guy though. Treats her right. I've been single this whole time, mostly focusing on passing the academy."

"That's right, you were going to be a policewoman!"

Ritsu moved under a streetlight and set some bags down. She reached into the pocket of her leather jacket and retrieved a golden badge. "I wasn't _going to be_, I _became _a policewoman. Passed the six month academy like it was nothing, got my badge, and I'll have a job in Tokyo at the end of the month."

"Oh, I'm so happy for you Ricchan! That's so cool!" Mugi exclaimed with a bit of a squeak.

The once-drummer chuckled and scratched the back of her head with her free hand. "Yeah, my parents were really upset about me not finishing college, but… I just had to do this I guess. Maybe it had something to do with Yui and her sister, because I was so angry about the investigations getting called off so quickly. As a cop, I'll do my best to make sure nobody has to deal with something like that."

"Ricchan's so noble!" Her blonde friend chimed. Ritsu felt good hearing that. Mugi was nearly the first person to say anything good about her decision. Her brother had given her a word of congratulations, but her parents still thought college was the best choice.

"Heh, you can praise me all you like. Come on, let's get to my place, it's pouring out."

And off the two went…

**RITSU'S HOME…**

"Pardon the intrusion!" Ritsu and Mugi called in unison as they stepped in from the rain. Ritsu's arms were on fire from holding all the luggage, and felt like they had somehow turned into rice noodles.

"Ritsu, you're home!" She heard her mother's voice happily exclaim. "And, oh, who is this?"

"This is my friend Mugi; she's in town too and needs a place to stay," Ritsu told her.

"Oh, is this the elusive Mugi of the legendary _Houkago Tea Time_?" Her mother chuckled. Ritsu's mother stepped into the front hall then, waving warmly at Mugi. She was a little older than what Mugi expected, with hair about the same length as Ritsu's, but without the bangs. It was darker though, and mixed with silver and white hairs as well. She was dressed in a casual kimono, very comfortable looking and traditional. "Nice to meet you, Mugi-san, my daughter told me a lot about you when you two went to school together. The beautiful and fair keyboardist who everyone admired, and I guess she was right about that."

Mugi blushed at the compliment. "Thank you, Tainaka-san." She gave a polite bow. "I really appreciate you and Ritsu having me. I promise not to be a burden, and will help out with cleaning and cooking."

"Oh, that's quite alright," Mrs. Tainaka assured her. "I'm actually really glad Ritsu brought a friend over. Satoshi's always gone with his friends, and my husband tends to work late shifts. I love the idea of having some company, even if it is just for a little while."

"Been lonely without me?" Ritsu joked as she went to carry their things up to her room.

"Well yeah, you know I miss you coming home every day and hanging out. I don't have anyone to do that with now." She pouted, but didn't seem all too serious. The older woman then turned to Mugi, "Here, let me show you around the house…"

Mugi let Ritsu's mother give her a tour, even if she had been here before. It was a small but spacious little home that seemed cozy above all else. Mugi found herself strangely jealous of it when she mentally compared the house to the grand one she grew up in. No servants, no expensive interior decorating; it all felt so homely and personal. Best of all, it smelled like Ritsu. The tour ended in the parlor, where the two of them sat at the low table.

"You have a very lovely home, Tainaka-san. I'm very happy to stay here with Ritsu and you." Mugi told her, polite as ever.

It was then that Ritsu returned from upstairs. "Okay, I got a futon laid out for you Mugi. Since tomorrow's Sunday, I'm thinking Azusa will be off then and we can visit her. I got a bit of cash, so I'll take the three of us out to lunch or something."

"That sounds wonderful, Ricchan." Mugi smiled.

Ritsu sat down next to Mugi, across from her mother, and asked, "When is dad getting home, and is Satoshi out with his friends again?"

"He'll be home late, probably past ten. It's Saturday night, your dad gets together with some friends from work to play some fantasy role-playing game. I joined them once and it looked like a lot of fun. As for your brother, yeah, he's with friends too."

"We used to be like that too, remember, Mugi? Always hanging out together." Ritsu chuckled at the warm memories.

"I could never forget." Mugi gave a melancholic sigh. "It feels like a dream when I think back on it."

"I know what you mean." Ritsu matched her sigh.

Sensing the gloom around them, Mrs. Tainaka stood up and forced a smile. "Why don't I start on dinner? It's already getting dark. Mugi, would you like to help me?"

"Yes, it would be my pleasure." Mugi happily agreed and went to join her. Ritsu smiled at them getting along so easily. It was funny how things worked out in their favor like that. If Mugi hadn't stumbled across her by chance in the rain, then she would have had to stay at some seedy hotel instead. Ritsu didn't like that thought, but still worried that her old home wouldn't be luxurious enough for the rich keyboardist. She told herself that she had nothing to worry about, and that Mugi would have been happy staying with Ritsu at her apartment in Tokyo. What she found amazing was how Mugi had said she had dreams about Azusa being alone in some kind of dark place. Ritsu had dreams similar, and couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to it than being an eerie coincidence.

The hairband wielding girl listened to her mother and Mugi pleasantly make small talk in the other room. They went back and forth about casual things like what shampoos they each recommended, music they liked, TV idols they both followed, ect… A folded local newspaper sat near the table, and caught the attention of Ritsu's wandering eye. She moved over to it, walking on her knees and decided to see what was up around town while the other women worked on dinner.

_Okay, what do we got here… New store opening downtown, some editorials, baseball coverage; looks like the same old stuff. And here it is saying we'd have sunny skies, what is this nonsense? _

Ritsu flipped another page, and then nearly dropped the newspaper. The article there, a tiny little paragraph at the edge of the paper, was enough to make her head spin. Quickly and quietly, she read it aloud to herself.

"Two preteen girls were found dead Thursday morning half a kilometer into the forests bordering a local neighborhood. Details are sketchy with the parents of the deceased wishing to withhold any public information about their daughters. The deaths raised some questions among the local police, due to their strange natures. The victims were found with their throats slashes, and autopsies reported that the wounds appeared to have been caused by human fingernails. Whether or not the deaths were suicides or murders is also being withheld."

"Ritsu."

"Ahh!" She jumped as she heard her name being called by her mother.

Mrs. Tainaka laughed as she entered the room alone. "Oh, aren't you jumpy tonight?"

"Y-Yeah…" Ritsu scratched at her hair, and felt her hands shaking just a bit. As a soon-to-be-policewoman, stories like that flat out frightened her. She was terrified of being called out on dispatch and finding a scene like that.

"We don't have anything for miso soup; could you run out and get some down the street?"

Ritsu stood up and stretched. "Yeah, sure mom."

"Here, let me go get you some money and-"

"No, don't worry about it; I'll take care of it." Ritsu cut her off before she could turn and leave the room.

"If you insist. I was going to give you a little extra so you could pick up some sake too. I know how girls your age are." Mrs. Tainaka gave her daughter a wink.

"M-Mom, Mugi isn't like that!" Ritsu found herself stammering and blushing.

Her mother chuckled. "No, I suppose she isn't. She's a sweet girl, I'm glad you brought her home."

"Heh, glad you think so." Ritsu was still blushing, walking slowly towards the front hall. "I'll be back in a little bit. Anything else you need?"

"No, that's it. Make sure to bring an umbrella."

"I'll be alright." She gave her mother a quick wave then left the warm house and stepped into the cold rain. She walked slowly, letting the water from the sky pour down her. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket, and she couldn't get that tiny little news article out of her mind. They were such senseless deaths. Ones that reminded her of what happened to Hirasawa Ui. She knew they couldn't be in anyway related, but it still bothered her. Beyond that, the feeling of having a friend she hadn't seen in a long time staying with her was almost surreal. At the same time, she was extremely excited to catch up with Mugi and learn all about her current life. She wished Mio could have been there too. That would have made things even better.

No, she wished they were _all_ there. She wished they were in their clubroom after school, drinking tea, making jokes, playing music, _anything_. Their friendships had been a carefully assembled pyramid that had fallen apart when sections were removed. She'd give anything to rebuild it, but that was impossible with Yui gone.

She missed Yui so much. She had to force herself not to think about her friend just disappearing like that. It was too depressing and she was determined not to let it drag her life down, like Azusa had. Part of her wondered if Yui would ever turn up again; hopefully alive and well. She had dreams like that, where she'd get a phone call from Yui and learn that she had moved away after her sister's death. Ritsu wanted those dreams to come true so badly it almost hurt.

Her thoughts provided a distraction from the cold night air and rain. Ritsu bought the ingredients, hardly paying attention to her surroundings as she did so. She let the clerk keep the change, which was something of a 15% tip from her absentmindedness. The rain was stronger on the way back.

Dinner was made within the following half hour, and Mugi continued to hit it off with Mrs. Tainaka. Their personalities just clicked perfectly, and Ritsu was definitely happy for it. Dinner was great; Ritsu had forgotten how much she missed her mom's cooking while being away from home. During the meal, Mugi was complimenting positively everything with a look of starry eyed wonder on her face.

"Wow Tainaka-san, the rice came out perfectly!" She happily exclaimed, followed by, "Ricchan did a great job getting the ingredients!" "The marinating sauce worked so well, you have to give me your recipe!" "The bowls you have match the table perfectly, where did you get them?" "This is an amazing meal, thank you so much for letting me help make it!"

After dinner, Ritsu helped with dishes while Mugi had first access to the bath upstairs. Mrs. Tainaka couldn't help but chuckle as she cleaned dishes with her daughter. "Heh, heh, your friend Mugi really is pleasant company. I might even say I preferred having her for dinner over Mio. That girl was always so shy and distant from us. Yes, I've decided that I like Mugi, and if you do anything to break her heart…"

"M-Mom, we're not like that." Ritsu stammered, dropping a plate from her hands. It splashed in the soapy water below and clattered loudly.

Her mother gave her a smiled and a wink, and lowered her voice, "When you were gone, she talked about you. No. That's an understatement. She went _on_ and _on_ about you."

"She did?" Ritsu was taken aback. "W-What did she say?"

"Stuff about how cool she thought you were, and how she wants a jacket just like yours. She talked about how much she missed playing music with you and Mio, and I told her that you two should talk about getting the band back together."

"I don't really think that's possible."

"I think Mugi would really like it though. Think about her." She urged her on.

"Maybe." Ritsu shrugged. She had no plans of doing that, because there would be no band without Yui. Period.

Their conversation strayed to unimportant small talk, and the dishes were quickly washed, dried, and put away. Ritsu took her bath right after Mugi exited, letting her and Mrs. Tainaka talk some more. Her bath was long and drawn out, with the warm water feeling heavenly. The whole time she was thinking about what she would say to Azusa tomorrow. One thing was sure though, she was going to work _much_ harder to keep in contact with both her and Mugi now. Especially Mugi. Ritsu had forgotten simply how much she liked having the ditzy little blonde around. Her happy, perpetually amazed attitude and admiration towards Ritsu were all traits the drummer loved.

**THAT NIGHT…**

Mugi was now considering her decision to visit Azusa as being a very wise one. Her night had been very enjoyable so far with Ritsu and her mother. She had come into town expecting to stay at a hotel watching movies alone, but instead ended up having a sleepover with an old friend. Maybe it was just her, but Mugi thought everything about their house, about their cooking, and about _everything_ was wonderful. Even the futon she was currently laying down in felt so cozy and homely. For some reason, it just wasn't a feeling she could replicate in her apartment in the city.

Sleep wasn't coming easy though, so the keyboardist decided to help herself to a glass of water and the restroom. Her futon was right next to Ritsu's old bed in what was now a guest room. She noticed that her friend wasn't in bed, and wondered if she had gotten up to go get a glass of water too at some point. Mugi stood up, stretched, yawned, and shuffled out the door into the dim hallway.

She made her way pretty much silently downstairs, and heard two people talking in the parlor. One was Ritsu, and the other sounded like a middle aged man, presumably her father.

"I told you, I'm paying for everything out of my own pocket." Ritsu sounded slightly angry, like they were arguing.

"That's not what I care about, it isn't about money!" Her father snapped at her. Mugi stayed at the stairs, trying to keep out of sight.

"Then what's it about?"

"It's an issue about respect is what it's about. I mean, you throw away your future after all the support we give you and then just think you can waltz back in here like nothing happened?"

"I'm only here for a couple of days though, you're making it sound like-"

"And what's worse is you bring a friend that neither me nor your mother has ever met and expect us to just welcome them?" He cut her off, raising his voice slightly. Mugi cringed at being mentioned in their argument. She instantly felt like she was overstaying her welcome.

"Mom and Mugi get along just fine. I don't get it, you let Satoshi have his friends over even though you've never met them, and one of those kids stole a bunch of DVDs, remember?"

"This isn't about your brother, stop trying to turn this around on him!"

"That's not what I'm doing at all!" Ritsu's frustration was evident to Mugi, who was feeling worse and worse as this argument went on. The drummer raised her voice, "I don't get what your problem is at all, dad! Yes, I admit it, I screwed up with university but being a policewoman pays just fine and I can really make a difference out there."

"But what if you're hurt or killed on duty? What are your mother and I going to do then?"

"I'm working in the nice part of Tokyo; I don't have to deal with violence and stuff like that." Ritsu tried to tell him.

"That's the kind of area that the Yakuza work at though."

"The Yakuza? Are you kidding me? You're worried about the _Yakuza _coming after me?" Ritsu nearly laughed, but knew that would have caused a plethora of problems.

"Yes, I worry, alright? I don't know why you had to go and do this. You could have had a happy and safe job doing literally anything else and you take the job where you have to be armed with a firearm to protect yourself."

Ritsu sighed loudly, "Look, I'm tired; I don't want to argue this. I'm sorry I'm not living up to what _you_ wanted me to be. For what it's worth, I do appreciate that you care enough about me to worry. That… that means a lot, dad."

"Even if you're a grown woman who can legally carry around a gun, that doesn't stop you from being my little girl. Damn it… I'm sorry I'm keeping you up. Goodnight, Ritsu."

"'Night, dad." Ritsu sighed. She began heading for the stairs, and ended up with a face full of Mugi.

"S-Sorry, Ricchan!" Mugi whispered, blushing in the dim light.

"Oh, hey Mugi, I was just talking with my dad a bit. What's up?" Ritsu acted like the last ten minutes simply hadn't happened.

"I was just thirsty. That's all."

"Alright, let me get you something."

Within minutes the two of them were back upstairs after Ritsu made them each a cup of orange spice tea. Mugi sat on the futon while Ritsu sat at the edge of her old bed. She looked down at her blonde house guest in the dark, and noticed she had changed a bit. Something about Mugi's appearance was different, and Ritsu had been trying to place her finger on it since the train station. It then dawned on her that Mugi had cut her hair a good ten centimeters, and that it was much neater at the edges. Another change that Ritsu sadly picked up on then was that Mugi had gained a noticeable amount of weight. While she didn't think it made her look any less cute or princess like, Ritsu knew how men were about a girl's weight.

"So… you heard me and my dad going back and forth?" Ritsu quietly asked.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for eavesdropping, I know it was wrong of me." Mugi answered honestly.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Ritsu reached forward and patted her shoulder. "Forget what he said, my mom and I love having you here. I've been missing the fluff out of you recently anyway, so this all worked out great."

"I missed you too Ricchan." Mugi felt her cheeks begin to ache from smiling. "Wait, something you said earlier. You're going to be working in the nice part of Tokyo?"

"Yeah, that's where my apartment is."

Mugi gasped, "Then we might live near each other!"

Ritsu chuckled, "That'd be really cool, wouldn't it?"

"It would be more than cool; it would be the greatest thing ever!" The keyboardist exclaimed, nearly spilling her tea.

"Heheh, yeah. Yeah it would." Ritsu felt herself smiling as well. She yawned, and realized it was past midnight. "We'll talk more tomorrow, okay? We need to be up early anyway."

"Okay. Goodnight, Ricchan." Mugi was able to fall asleep right away this time. The pillows she was borrowing smelled like Ritsu; she liked that.

**THE NEXT DAY…**

Mrs. Tainaka woke the two girls to a breakfast she prepared just for them. Just like the night before, Mugi found herself complimenting anything that more or less functioned or tasted liked it was supposed to. The rain had stopped somewhere in the night, but the sky remained gloomy and overcast that morning. It wasn't until a little before noon that Mugi and Ritsu left to go finally meet Azusa again. Even two years later, they remembered the exact route to her house.

Something was on Mugi's mind as they walked together and made idle small talk. It was something she had wanted to tell one of her friends for such a long time now, but simply couldn't muster up the courage. Maybe they already knew, maybe they didn't, but Mugi decided it was time to admit her secret. They walked by quiet homes, without a single pedestrian around.

"Ricchan, can I tell you something?" Mugi asked. She kept her gaze down at the ground, fidgeted with her fingers.

"Yeah, of course, what's up?"

Mugi took a deep a breath, "Please don't make fun of me if you don't agree with me on this, but it's who I am. It's been weighing on my chest for such a long time, and being in two schools with only girls has only made it more difficult. I know it's more commonly accepted in places and other countries far away, but like I said, it's who I am."

"I'm not really following you, Mugi." Ritsu admitted.

The blonde took a deep breath, looked Ritsu in the eyes and told her, "Ricchan, I like girls. I mean, _like_ girls. I'm…I'm gay."

Ritsu blinked, unsure how to react at first. She made herself cover the confusion and slight surprise with a smile, and replied, "That's… hmm…" She saw a look of worry in Mugi's eyes, and quickly went to make her feel better. "It's good that you're honest with yourself, and me. Honestly, I'm not all that surprised. I think once or twice Mio and I wondered if you were _different_. Different isn't bad though, if you like girls then you like girls. Nothing wrong with that at all. Plus, this kind of explains some of things you did and said in school."

Mugi sighed in relief, "I… I feel so much better now, even if I wasn't really subtle about it. It's just, you hear stories in the news of girls like me getting bullied or harassed because of it, and I've always been so nervous to admit it."

"You know I'm the last kind of person to judge that sort of thing." Ritsu threw her arm around Mugi's shoulder, giving her half a hug. "I know Mio and Azusa would be supporting too, and Yui definitely would have been too. Have you had any girlfriends though?"

"No, I've never even been kissed." Mugi replied with a bit of a sigh. "Like I said, I've been too nervous to really tell anyone. You're the first person I've ever told about it."

"But, if you don't tell anyone, then you'll never find someone to be with." Ritsu countered. "If I were you, I'd tell everyone, let them all know that's who you are! Be like, _I'm Mugi, I like girls, and I'm not afraid to admit it!_ Because if that's who you are, then that's who you are."

"Thanks Ricchan." A tear of happiness slid down Mugi's cheek as she walked with Ritsu's arm around her shoulder. "I don't think I'm really brave enough to do that though. I'll find someone one day, don't worry about me. There's even a girl I like, and maybe I'll tell her my feelings."

"You should do that!" Ritsu encouraged her with a friendly shake. "What's she like though?"

"Hmm…" Mugi raised her finger to her chin and thought a moment. "She's very kind to me, is lots of fun to be around, and I think she's really cool."

"Sounds perfect for you, what's her name?" Ritsu then asked.

"Uh… umm, you don't know her so there's no point in giving her name." She stammered a bit, and began blushing heavily.

Ritsu gave a sly smile towards her, "Ohhh, I get it. This person wouldn't happen to have black hair, be left handed, and play bass? If so, I think I know why you wouldn't want to admit her name to me."

"It's not Mio." Mugi replied sternly. "Mio is… let's just say she's not my type." Her stern demeanor turned to happy laugher with almost no transition. She grabbed Ritsu into a tight hug, and laughed, "I'm sorry, but I'm just so happy you accept me like this. It takes so much weight off my shoulders, you have no idea."

"Hey, I'd like you no matter what you were into." Ritsu said from beneath a face full of Mugi.

**AZUSA'S HOME…**

The sky overhead was still dreary, the houses on Azusa's street looked dismal and bleak, but Azusa's house stood out among them. It looked no different, but just looking at it made Mugi and Ritsu feel a sense of dread. It seemed to radiate misery in some impossible way. All of a sudden, Ritsu didn't want to be there anymore. She turned to Mugi and sighed, "I'm not sure we should this. I mean, when was the last time you talked to her?"

"Almost a year ago." Mugi admitted. "She didn't sound like she wanted to talk to me then, and then her number stopped working."

"Yeah, it's a bit like that for me too. She stopped coming online on any social sites."

"But… this is our chance to tell her that we're still here." Mugi reminded her.

"You're right, I'm just a little nervous. Okay, let's go."

They walked side by side to the door of the home, and rain began to fall again. To either side of them, the grass was slightly overgrown like many other lawns on that street. Something about that entire street just felt _wrong_.

Mugi rang the doorbell. It buzzed for a second, and for a moment it felt like nobody was going to answer. After several seconds, the two of them heard footsteps against hardwood floor coming to the door. It opened, and standing there was an adult woman with long black hair and dark eyes. She looked a lot like Azusa, which clearly marked her as being their friend's mother.

"Hello, can I help you?" She asked in a polite, yet nearly monotone voice. With pale skin and bags under eyes, she looked like sleep was something that eluded her. Ritsu thought maybe they had woken her up, but she was dressed and had her hair neatly combed already.

"Yeah, I'm Tainaka Ritsu and this is my friend Kotobuki Tsumugi. We were friends with Azusa in high school and decided it's been too long since we last visited her." Ritsu explained just a tad bit nervously. "I'm sorry if we're imposing on you with our visit."

"N-No, that's quite alright." Mrs. Nakano bit her lower lip and stepped to the side, inviting them in. "Here, come in, I'll make some tea for you two. Azusa's… she's… we'll talk about that in a moment."

"Is something wrong?" Mugi gently asked. Azusa's mother seemed to have trouble mentioning her daughter. Mugi wondered if she had moved out or something.

"Yes." She replied curtly, without emotion, and led the two of them inside. None of the lights inside were on. With how gloomy it was outside, the inside of the home was a dark monochrome. It was messy as well, not what either of them would have expected from the home of Azusa. The carpets and floors looked like they hadn't been swept or vacuumed in weeks, there were empty boxes of fast food and take-out scattered everywhere, mixed with countless empty liquor bottles that seemed to occupy every last available surface. Ritsu was suddenly afraid for Azusa. She had no idea what her home life had been like, and it was now clear that at least one of her parents was a heavy alcoholic, if not a substance abuser.

"I'm sorry, I don't have anywhere for you two to sit." The older woman shrugged. "Want anything with your tea either? I have some rum here…"

"N-No, that's quite alright, thanks." Ritsu answered for them.

In a silence so strong it was nearly crippling to the soul, Mrs. Nakano went about preparing tea with about as much enthusiasm as a sloth. She made it at the kitchen counter, and spilled hot water and sugar more than once. No effort was made to clean it up. The three of them drank in silence for a moment. The tea was subpar at best, made only to uphold social standards.

"Azusa's dead." Her mother told them, almost casually, like it was something she was used to telling people.

Mugi's tea cup fell out of her hands and shattered against the kitchen floor. Ritsu just blinked, wondering if she had heard that right. Light headed, dizzy, and nauseous, she tried to confirm this, "Did… did you just say…"

"Yeah, yeah I did." She replied in the same dull monotone. Mrs. Nakano walked past Mugi, towards a closet, and elaborated, "My husband's a cop, kept a gun under his bed because we got robbed some ten years back. Azusa snuck in while we were asleep, took it, wandered into the woods across town and shot herself. This happened in February, three months ago. I got the 'Shittiest Mother of the Year Award' and the world keeps on spinning. Now if you would move out of the way, Kotobuki-san, I need to clean that up."

In a stupefied daze, Mugi stepped to the side so Mrs. Nakano could pick up the shattered teacup with a handful of paper towels.

"I…I don't believe this…" Ritsu stammered. Tears began to burn in her eyes, and her fists clutched at her bangs. "Azusa…. _Azusa_, how could she… this can't be true!"

"It was those two sisters she was friends with." Mrs. Nakano said. "You remember that right, don't you? One sister got stabbed by some psycho so many times the police could barely recognize her, and then the other sister just disappeared. Azusa was best friends with them, and pretty much spiraled into depression when it happened."

"Yeah, I know all about that. I was friends with them too." Ritsu whispered. She slumped against the counter behind her, struggling not to just fall onto the floor. Mugi just continued to stand there, staring at the floor, a blank look on her face. The drummer thought back to when she heard the news about Ui and Yui. It was a week after it happened, a phone call from her mother.

_"Ritsu, remember those two Hirasawa girls you were friends with? Well, something terrible has happened…"_

That was along the lines of what her mother told her. Ritsu couldn't remember what she had said exactly. She remembered dropping her cell phone and the sound of the screen cracking. Now Azusa was gone too…

"I'm so sorry…" Ritsu whispered. "I can't begin to imagine how hard this had to have been on you. I'm sorry we weren't there for her after that tragedy. Maybe if we had been-"

"Don't start blaming yourself for what my daughter did." Mrs. Nakano cut her off with a bit of anger in her voice. "I don't want Azusa's legacy to be just be guilt for all of us. Now… is there anything else you wanted?"

"Yes." Mugi spoke up finally, her face still blank. "Is her room still here?"

"Yeah, haven't touched it. You two can go visit it before you leave, just don't change how it is."

**AZUSA'S ROOM**

"Why are we doing this?" Ritsu whispered as the two of them stepped into their dead friend's abode. A purple sheet was draped over the large window on one side of the room. The light from outside was filtered through the sheet and gave the room a deep purple tint. Dust motes were drifting to and fro through the air, and the entire room breathed misery.

"I just wanted to…" Mugi spoke even quieter. "…I just needed to see, Ricchan. To make sure it was true."

"I understand." Ritsu put a hand on Mugi's shoulder. Mugi stepped towards Azusa's bed, and realized that the room was really just how it had been left. The bed wasn't made; the blanket was half on the ground over a pile of dirty shirts and balled up socks. Sitting in one corner was a Fender Mustang guitar, patiently waiting for the day it would be played again. Dust and dirt had caked over the strings. Next to Azusa's bed was a framed picture on a nightstand stained with ashes. The picture was of Azusa, Yui, Mio, Mugi, and Ritsu all smiling with their instruments.

Ritsu stepped up the guitar and looked at the pitiful thing. Down on the ground next to it was a cell phone, a newer touch screen one with a crack down the middle. It looked like it had been thrown.

_"I know I should call them so they'll have my new number… but… do they even still want to talk to me?"_

Ritsu shuddered, she could have sworn she had just heard Azusa's voice. Being in this room was making her more and more uncomfortable by the second. She took a deep breath and turned to Mugi. "Hey… I think we should get going. I'm getting a really bad vibe from being in here."

_"Maybe one of them knows something about Yui-senpai, about where she went. No, that couldn't be possible. They'd only get angry at me for asking."_

Mugi blinked, she could have sworn she just heard Azusa's voice in her head. That was silly though, but Ritsu was right, this room was more than creepy now. "Yes, you're right. Back to your house then?"

"Yeah, let's forget about going out to lunch. I'm not hungry anymore."

"Me neither."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Echoes

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART 2**

**ECHOES**

The rain poured down hard, echoing through the silence of Ritsu's room. Ritsu could only stare down at her bare feet, and Mugi's right beside them to her left. Her toes curled the edge of the futon lying against the ground. Mugi's right foot shifted over, resting atop Ritsu's left one. Ritsu sighed, and then looked over at Mugi.

"It's so surreal, isn't it?" She asked. "Three hours later, I can't wrap my head around it. Our Azusa just gone like that, I mean, really gone. Tomorrow I'm going to the library to check the obituaries to make sure."

"Can I go with you?"

"Sure, but, are you really sure it's okay to stay? Don't you have classes?"

Mugi shrugged, "They don't matter right now. This matters."

"I have about three weeks before I start work, so I'll probably spend at least a week here." Ritsu laid down on her back. She felt horribly light headed after the news of Azusa. She wasn't sure how to react to that, or how she was going to tell Mio. They were silent for a few moments, with the only interaction between them happening through their feet. Was this all there was left? A friend is lost and the only thing they could do was play a silent game of footsie.

Eventually, Mugi quietly spoke up, "We should have been there for her."

"No, don't start this…" Ritsu groaned.

"But we should have, why did we shut her out, Ricchan?" Mugi looked down at her with tear filled eyes. Her hands were trembling, her face was reddening, and her lower lip was quivering. "If we had been there for her, then she wouldn't have been so lonely. We both know that's why she did this, because she felt so alone without us."

"I'm serious Mugi, stop it." Ritsu felt her own tears beginning to burn her eyes. She bit down hard and shut her eyes, trying not to show her emotions.

"We're horrible friends." Mugi sniveled.

"Shut up, there wasn't anything we could have done!" Ritsu shouted. She made herself sit up, focusing all her will power into not crying. It wasn't working.

"What about the song we wrote for her, remember Ricchan? Remember how the lyrics went? Graduation wasn't supposed to be the end; we were supposed to forever be friends!" Mugi grabbed Ritsu's hands in her own as she spoke. "What happened to that? Why didn't we keep our promise?"

"_I don't know!_" Ritsu nearly screamed at her. Mugi flinched back, letting go of her. The drummer then broke into quieter sobs, "I j-just don't know, M-Mugi… I just…" There was nothing more she could say. "Here."

She outstretched her arms to let Mugi hug her. It was the most simple, yet effective gesture she could have done. Mugi saw her offer, and pretty much tackled Ritsu into a squeezing hug. She buried her face into Ritsu's chest and let her emotions pour forward in the form of tears. Ritsu held her, gentling rocking her back and forth, and didn't bother to resist crying now. The two of them held on tight to one another, letting it all out. It wasn't even the news of that day that brought upon Ritsu's tears. Instead, they came from watching Mugi cry. Something about witnessing her sobbing was heartbreaking. She wished there was something she could say or do to make her friend feel better. For now, there wasn't, so she just held onto her and let Mugi's tears stain her shirt.

Ritsu was able to cry herself dry in a matter of minutes, but Mugi was less stable. The blonde couldn't stop her weeping. No matter what she did, she couldn't stop picturing Azusa's smiling face. Every time she felt like she was about finally stop crying, she'd remember a happy moment with Azusa and it would start all over again.

The loss was crippling, but the guilt was murder.

But eventually the heaviest waterworks were reduced to merely a salty trickle. Mugi found herself laying at the edge of Ritsu's bed; head on her friends lap as the last of the tears ran down her soft cheeks. Ritsu was sitting up, and gently stroked Mugi's hair.

"It's like her mom said, we can't let the guilt be the only thing Azusa left us." Ritsu told her. She wondered how long they had been like this now. It had to have been at least half an hour.

"I can't just let it go though…" Mugi whimpered.

Ritsu reached down and took one of Mugi's hands in both of hers. She managed to force a somewhat convincing smile. "It's not like I'm feeling much better. Yeah, I feel partly responsible, but I know Azusa would be sad if she knew she was making us feel guilty. She'd want us to smile when we remember her. Come on, smile for me Mugi!"

Mugi sniffled once, "O-Okay…"

And despite her hour of tears, she managed to bend her lips into the shape of a smile.

"There we go!" Ritsu managed to laugh. Mugi sat up, and wiped the last of the tears out of her eyes. Ritsu shrugged off her leather jacket and draped it over her friend's shoulder. "We'll get through this, Mugi. It'll be hard, but so much easier since we have each other. Let's just hope we live nearby in the city, right?"

Mugi chuckled, she did feel a little better now. "Yes, that would be very, _very _wonderful. I, um… want to apologize for making you take care of me just now."

"We just learned that a friend passed away, I'm not really worried about that." Ritsu told her, and then stood up. She stretched, and realized that the front of her shirt was stained with Mugi's tears and some other less-than-ladylike substances. "If anything you should apologize to my poor shirt here. It was limited edition too."

Mugi thought that was a little strange, since Ritsu seemed to be wearing an ordinary white shirt. Could it have been that was a joke?

"Hmm, it's already four. I'm getting hungry. Want to go get a late lunch?" Ritsu asked.

"Yes, I'd like that a lot. Can you take me somewhere I've never been?"

"Yeah, that wouldn't be hard." The drummer laughed to herself. "Let me change shirts though."

"I'll wait in the hallway." Mugi stood up and went for the door.

"I don't mind if you stay. Heck you could even watch me change and I wouldn't mind. I'm sure you wouldn't mind seeing a shirtless-" Ritsu stopped midsentence and cringed. "Sorry, bad joke! That was wrong of me."

"It's alright." Mugi smiled as she was opening the door. Before she stepped out, she added with a mischievous grin, "You don't have much to look at anyway."

Ritsu blinked in surprise as Mugi managed to turn her dumb joke back on her. At least she was feeling better. As she was changing, all she could think about was how much of a boyish chest she had.

**THAT EVENING…**

"You're staying another night, Mugi-san?" Mrs. Tainaka asked as she began to make dinner preparations. The three of them were in the kitchen, and despite eating lunch a mere hour ago, the two younger girls were definitely in the mood for dinner. Satoshi was home as well, but he really didn't want anything to do with the three women. He said hello to his sister, they talked back and forth for a bit, and that was the extent of their interaction.

"If that's okay with you, I would love to." Mugi replied.

"Stay as long as you'd like, I insist." She cheerfully encouraged the younger girl. "Oh, I meant to ask, how did it go with your friend?" The look on Mugi and Ritsu's faces told her that not all was well. "Oh, I'm sorry if it's a sensitive subject. I…I thought I overheard crying, and… well, forget I asked, okay?"

"No, it's alright, mom." Ritsu sighed. "Should we tell her, Mugi?"

"It wouldn't hurt." She replied.

Ritsu then explained to her mother what had happened. She told her how they had walked over there as cheerful as could be. She told her about how Azusa's mother looked like a wreck. She told her about the home being filthy. She told her about how Azusa had shot herself. She then told her about how Azusa's room had been just the way Azusa left it. She did _not_ tell her about hearing Azusa's voice. She did _not_ tell her about the guilt.

"I'm so sorry…" Mrs. Tainaka gasped as her daughter finished the story. "I can't imagine how awful this must be for you."

"We're taking it pretty well, right Mugi?" Ritsu playfully elbowed her friend.

"Sort of…" She exhaled.

"I'll make something special for you two then, a surprise." Mrs. Tainaka told them with a comforting smile. That smile faded quickly as she remembered something. "I think I remember the news article about your friend. I didn't know her by name, and the article was really small…"

Ritsu briefly remembered that news article she had read the night before.

"…and it stuck out to me because it reminded me of something that happened before, around here. I was in junior high, and there was another case where a poor girl went off into the woods and… yeah… It was after her brother died in a car accident. For some reason, nobody really talked about it. Not around town, not in school, not anywhere."

"That's…" Ritsu went pale, and glanced at Mugi. Her friend was biting her lower lip, and looked nervous as well.

_Three, no, FOUR deaths around those woods? All suicides? That's a little bit, no, that's a lot creepy. I know it's just a coincidence, but it's too hard to just ignore like it's nothing._

Suddenly Ritsu felt very nervous, and very small. The kitchen seemed too big, and the overhead lights were hardly illuminating anything. What she had just heard had to be a coincidence. The deaths were spread so far apart that they couldn't possible be related. Tomorrow, tomorrow she would go the library and browse through those obituaries. She'd see that these were completely unrelated, scattered cases. She could probably even find the news article on the death her mother mentioned too.

"Ricchan, are you alright?" Mugi asked her.

Ritsu blinked. She hadn't even realized she had been in a trance for a moment. "Y-Yeah, I just felt someone walk over my grave. W-Want help with dinner, mom?"

"You'd really subject your friend to your cooking?" She chuckled.

"Hey, I'm a pretty good cook." Ritsu grumbled. "I should probably leave it to you two though. Dinner last night was really good, and I could see where both of you pitched in. Like how mom clearly made the tempura, but it was Mugi who arranged it into a smiley face."

"You noticed!" Mugi was pleasantly surprised. "I always try to add a little happy to every meal."

It was funny how a moment or two talking to Mugi could make Ritsu's mind feel at ease. Just seconds ago she had been focusing on schoolgirls committing suicide, and now she was thinking about how Mugi arranged meals in the form of happy faces. Tiny little things like that did wonders to keep her calm.

"It's cute, a little weird, but cute." She said.

Mrs. Tainaka led Mugi to the refrigerator, talking as she went, "So, for tonight, I have something special planned. What we'll do is…"

_What if Ui's death was a suicide too?_

Ritsu felt her heart stop for a moment as that obscene thought pried its way into her mind. Mugi and her mother kept talking, but she didn't hear them. She walked clumsily to the low dining table in the other room, trying to shake that thought from her mind. Ui's death had been almost unbelievable, something that simply shouldn't have occurred in modern times. Someone was able to break into their home while Ui was the only one home and give her countless stab wounds over nearly all parts of her body. Beyond the frantic mutilation, she wasn't defiled in any other way. There was no evidence or anything left for the police to work off of. Yui went missing the same day, was never found, and that made her a suspect. Of course, anyone who actually knew the two of them knew that Yui laying a finger on Ui was impossible. Thinking on it now, Ritsu realized there was no way that could have been a suicide. Sure, clawing out your own throat like those two other girls had done was something that went against all natural self-preservation. Most people simply couldn't force themselves to do that. Stabbing yourself with a razor or knife an upwards of a hundred times was even further beyond that.

Like every other death, Ui's had received little media attention. There had been grieving a plenty, and nobody heard from her parents since. However, such a grizzly murder hadn't gotten more than a little square in the newspaper. Ritsu still thought that was odd, since the media loved that kind of stuff on primetime news channels.

The one thing these deaths had in common though, was that they just didn't seem natural. They weren't 'text book' cases. Not many people wandered a kilometer out into the forest to shoot themselves, not to mention claw their own throats out with a friend. Beyond that, the Hirasawa residence had been in a thickly populated suburbia. Ritsu's time in the police academy had left her with some knowledge of forensics. Witnesses; trace evidence; normal evidence; the case had none of that. That shouldn't have been possible with the amount of blood that came with stabbing someone so many times.

"Nee-chan?" The voice of a boy just past puberty shattered the quietness of the room.

Ritsu shuttered in surprise, and looked to see her brother entering the room. He was taller than her now, but hadn't changed much beyond that in two years. Taking a moment to get her breathing normal again, she acknowledged him. "Hey, what's up?"

"Uh, are you okay? Scaring you isn't normally this easy. Also, you dropped your headband." He pointed at the floor in front of her. Sure enough, her yellow headband was right there. She hadn't remembered dropping it.

Ritsu picked it back up, and fitted it in her hair again. "Yeah, I'm okay, sort of. Today was a little rough…"

Satoshi stepped towards her. "I heard about your friend. That really, really sucks, huh?"

"Sucks is an understatement." She mumbled.

"I heard that a girl named Azusa had been found like that when it happened. I didn't know it was your friend… I feel really bad now. People at school were making jokes about it."

Ritsu was taken aback by that, and a little angry. "Wait, people were making _fun_ of my friend committing suicide? This is what kids your age think is funny?"

"Two things." He raised two fingers. "One: _people at school_ doesn't automatically include Tainaka Satoshi. Two: come on, you're not that much older than me. Is calling people my age 'kid' really necessary?"

"Either way, that makes me mad." Ritsu's tone told him that she wasn't lying.

"I'll say something to them tomorrow about it." Satoshi assured her. "A guy in my class got really mad about them joking too, so you're not alone."

"What was he mad about? Did he know her?"

He shook his head, "I don't think so. Apparently when he was in primary school, his cousin got lost in those woods. She was about his age, I think, and they found her drowned in a stream a few weeks later. The guy didn't want to talk about it, but one of my friends, Kaito, knew more. He said that the water wasn't even ten centimeters deep, and they couldn't find any evidence to what could have made her drown. That's freakin' creepy if you ask me. Same woods as your friend too."

"Did you read the paper yesterday?" Ritsu asked him, eyes going wide at his story.

"No, why?"

"Two girls killed themselves by clawing their own throats out. I can't remember if it was in the woods or at the edge; one of the two. Mom mentioned a girl who went off into the woods and did something similar, back when she was in junior high." Ritsu felt slightly better that she was able to share this information she obtained with someone. Later, she'd definitely tell it all to Mugi as well.

Satoshi bit his lip, but looked fascinated. "Seriously? That's what, _five_ deaths that look like suicides, all in the same area? Reminds me of that one movie you made Mio watch on Halloween. But, think it means anything?"

Ritsu shrugged, "I don't know, Satoshi, it could all be just one big coincidence. I _assume_ it's that, but I can't but wonder."

"Think the woods are haunted?" He suggested.

"Do I think a haunted forest made my friend kill herself? I don't know, Satoshi, do you think Santa Claus gave you that PS3 last year?" She narrowed her eyes, making her disdain just a little bit evident.

"Okay, okay, that was stupid of me, sorry." Satoshi cringed. "But, in all seriousness, I'm really sorry to hear what happened. I know how close you were to all your friends back then. I'm guessing this isn't easy for you."

"No, it isn't." Ritsu looked towards the ground. "I mean, I'll get through, and Mugi will too. The hardest part for me is looking back on all those amazing times I had and know they're gone forever. It doesn't mean I won't have good memories to look forward to later in life, but…"

"I understand." He told her as she began to trail off. Her eyes were watering a bit now. Satoshi wasn't keen on having to witness his grieving sister break down. He had no idea just what he could do or say to make her feel better. To him, girls were still a completely different species.

Ritsu wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her leather jacket. "I'm going to see if mom and Mugi need any help."

"I'll be upstairs in my room then. Talk to you later, Nee-san."

**THAT NIGHT**

Dinner itself hadn't actually been anything spectacular, just sukiyaki put together with basic, cheap ingredients. Ritsu's mother knew just how her daughter liked it, and made the deal almost especially for her. Mugi, of course, loved every bite of it and found no shortage of things to shower with praise. Over the course of the meal, Ritsu was reserved, only speaking when spoken to. All she could think about were the five deaths, six if Ui was included.

After dinner, she helped clean up, and then the three of them watched a couple movies together for the rest of the evening. The whole time Ritsu was wondering if Mugi was thinking the same things she was. It was impossible to tell, and the subject of Azusa's tragedy never made its way into conversation. Mugi and Mrs. Tainaka continued to get along greatly, but Ritsu somehow felt isolated. She almost felt closer to her brother in all of this since he knew as much as she did. His comment on the woods being maybe haunted didn't leave her thoughts. It was completely juvenile and borderline delirious to blame spirits, but Ritsu had to admit that supernatural elements explained everything easily. She then thought about how when you used that sort of logic, _anything _could be explained via supernatural. She was beginning to understand how religions got started.

When it was time to finally sleep the night away, Mugi and Ritsu made their way to the shared 'guest' room upstairs. Ritsu found herself strangely jealous of Mugi's pajamas and how they looked on her. The blonde wore a simple white night gown that barely touched her knees and ended with frilly bits of lace. The drummer looked at her in it, and compared it to what she was wearing: panties and a t-shirt. Mugi looked like an elegant princess… she looked like a cut and paste college girl. The lights were off, and the dimness somehow made Mugi look ever better.

"Hey, Mugi, you get the bed tonight." Ritsu offered.

"But it's your bed, I couldn't take it from you." Mugi politely refused. She was sitting cross legged on the futon, with Ritsu sitting at the edge of the bed.

The short haired brunette stood up, reached down and took Mugi's hands. She pulled her bewildered friend up and practically threw her onto the bed. "There." She crossed her arms. "Your bed now."

Mugi giggled like a girl fifteen years younger. "Are you sure it's alright, Ricchan?"

"It's not my bed anymore." Ritsu flopped onto the futon on her back. The floor shook as she did so. "Besides, I'm not going to have my Ojou-sama Mugi sleeping of the floor."

"You know I don't like special treatment." Mugi pouted.

"I could beat you up and make you sleep in the hallway." Ritsu teased. The look on Mugi's face at that joke nearly suggested that she _wanted_ Ritsu to do that. "Uh, anyway, something that was on my mind. Just asking 'cause I'm curious, were there any girls as Sakuragaoka that you had a crush on? Like I said, I'm just curious, it's not like I'm trying to pry, and if you're uncomfortable than-"

"It's alright, Ricchan." Mugi giggled. "You can ask me anything you want about my sexuality, it's not going to bother me. You wouldn't be upset if I asked you what boys you liked, or what you like in a man, and I'm the same way about girls. To answer your question though, yes, there were several girls that I liked."

"Oh, who were they?" Ritsu was no wholly interested.

Mugi took a deep breath, and revealed their names, "The two I really liked were Tachibana Himeko and Satou Akane. There were a couple others, but they were who I would sometimes stare at in class without thinking." Her voice became dreamy and slightly detached as she went on. "I feel kind of sad looking back on it, because I never really talked to either of them. They were both so cool and pretty, and I would have loved to learn more about both of them."

"Hey, I actually have Himeko's number I think. We liked a few of the same anime and used to text back and forth. If her number's still the same, I could try calling her." Ritsu offered.

Mugi frowned at that. "That's nice Ricchan, but I don't know what that would accomplish."

"Well, now you could tell her your feelings!" She happily suggested.

"R-Ricchan, t-that's…" Mugi began blushing brightly, struggling to form a coherent sentence. "I d-don't think…"

To Mugi's horror, Ritsu was already going for her phone. "I think you could actually have a shot here. I won't use your name at first, but wouldn't it be awesome if you could actually get together with your high school crush?"

"_Stop it!_"Mugi cried out. Ritsu did just that, and looked at her friend in surprise. She didn't look angry at her, but certainly didn't look anything close to happy.

"Mugi, I was just-" She tried to say.

"I know you're just trying to help." Mugi gave a near heartbreaking sigh. "Doing that for me is sweet, if not a little risky, but that's not something I'm comfortable with. I'm not assertive enough to be able to start talking to a girl like that with hopes of a relationship. I want to wait until I find a special someone on my own. Until then, I'm content with being by myself and engaging in voyeurism when I get… ahh, forget I just said that last part."

"Didn't hear a word." Ritsu instantly felt embarrassed and stupid for what she almost did. She got caught up in the moment, only wanted to help, and forgot how much that went against Mugi's personality. "Sorry 'bout that, just got carried away."

"It's okay, like I said; it would have been sweet if it wasn't for, well, me." Mugi laid down on her back, sinking into the soft blankets. "I know there's someone out there for me, just waiting. A female knight in shining armor to sweep me off my feet."

Ritsu smiled and felt her heart flutter at Mugi's sweet little words. At the same time, she felt a tinge of sadness. She was worried that Mugi _wouldn't_ ever find someone. If only to dismiss her own fears, Ritsu told her, "You got nothing to worry about. I _know_ you'll find that right someone. You're going to an all-girls school right? There has to be at least one lucky lady there who has her eye on you."

_If not, than I'll step in and find someone for you…_ Ritsu mentally added. She wanted to see Mugi happy, simple as that. In fact, she could even see herself going out with Mugi if it made her happy. Ritsu ended up mentally cringing at that thought. Pretending to be gay just to make a friend happy for a short while was such atrociously awful idea that she felt bad just thinking of it. The amount of problems that would stem from that for both of them was numerous.

"Why do you always look out for me so much?" Mugi asked out of the blue. She sounded more curious than anything else. "The way you act around Mio-chan, Yui-chan, or anyone else is different than the way you act around me. Why is that?"

Ritsu didn't really know how to reply. She tried her best to give Mugi an honest answer without patronizing her. "I act different around you because, no offense, you're different than them."

"I'm… different?" Mugi made it sound like the word was hurtful.

"Yeah, but not in a bad way." Ritsu assured her. "I thought about this earlier actually. You seem to be perpetually bubbly, happy, and just all around really pleasant to be around. I've never met anyone as cheerful as you, honestly… not including Yui of course. I can poke fun at Mio or just about anyone else, but with you it just feels kind of wrong. That mood you have is kind of infectious, so I don't want to do anything to ruin it. I can try to tone down the pampering though, if you want."

"The way you treat me isn't a bad thing though, you make me feel special." She replied, much more cheerful now. "I was just curious, not upset."

"Oh, that's good. I thought I was making you uncomfortable." Ritsu breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm enjoying myself too much with and your family to be uncomfortable."

That led Ritsu to another though. "You know, I'm really glad it was you I ran into in the rain. Mio's my best friend and all that, but… I can't imagine how she would have reacted to the news. She was really shaken up about what happened to Ui, almost as much as Azusa. I can't even mention Ui or Yui are around her at all now. If she had been with me at Azusa's house, and still here now… well… it would just be disastrous. I don't think I could handle a complete emotional wreck in my hands."

"I feel the same way, Ricchan." Mugi told her. The two of them were both lying on their backs looking up at the ceiling. Mugi on the bed, Ritsu on the floor's futon. It reminded the drummer of the times when Mio spent the night over. The two of them would just lay there looking at the ceiling, talking until the wee hours of the morning. Mugi continued her thought, "I don't know if you know how much you came through for me this weekend. I ended up here in the rain with only a vague list of directions printed off the internet to a hotel I had never been. Imagine if I had gone there, found that it was terrible, and then learned about Azusa-chan the next day. Instead, I ended up here with you and we're in this together."

"It all worked out, didn't it?"

"And with any luck, it'll continue when we go home."

**LIBRARY TRIP…**

An hour's walk across town brought the two girls to a small, old little building that predated most in the area. It was a library, one of two in town, Ritsu chose this one in particular. It was much older than the other, which was recently built, and was bound to have more records about the town and things that had happened in the past. She was curious mostly about the obituaries and such. The weather refused to let up though, and neither of them made it to their destination with dry socks. Ritsu had been worried that Mugi would get bored coming along, but the blonde assured her that she would be plenty entertained in a library for hours.

The library was dark and dusty, but also cozy and warm. If provided relief from the rain and cold wind outside. It seemed too small for the amount of books that were contained inside. Ritsu found what she was looking for rather easily, a huge archive of newspapers dating back a good sixty years. There were literally _thousands_, and she had to ask the librarian for access to them all. She didn't plan to go through each and everyone, of course, but definitely more than a couple dozen. The main saving grace for her was that the local paper was _much_ smaller in size compared to the _Asashi Shimbun _or _Mainichi Daily News_ that she got delivered to her apartment doorstep.

_I feel bad for making Mugi wait on me here. I don't think she understands just why I'm doing this. Damn it, I don't even really fully understand why I'm doing this. Guess I just need to tell myself that deaths like those aren't common at all. Freak, unrelated accidents and nothing more_.

Mugi found a book to occupy herself, _Kitchen_ by Banana Yoshimoto. A light, enjoyable read that would keep her entertained for the majority of Ritsu's newspaper perusing.

She started with the issues in February of that year, since that was when Azusa had died. The obituaries were small and sometimes not even there depending on the day. That area simply wasn't plagued with many deaths. What few tragedies that did occur weren't reported on with any detail either. Since Ritsu didn't know the date that Azusa had died, she had to go through each and every daily paper for that month. After several minutes, she made it to the 22nd and found what she had been looking for…

_"Taken too soon…_

_ Nakano Azusa_

_ November 11th, 1993 – February 14th, 2012_

_ A very talented musician and a young, driven soul. Azusa's life was taken by her own hands following the depression caused by the loss of a dear friend. She had graduated from the local high school, Sakuragaoka and had lived with her parents since. Her final months were spent in sadness, but all who knew her will remember her for the smiles she brought to their lives. _

_ Azusa was an only child, and is survived by her two parents. _"

Ritsu gave a mournful sigh, and held back a few tears threatening to break out. The newspaper was somehow confirmation to this tragedy. That was it, Azusa _was _gone and she would have accepted. She considered showing Mugi the article but decided against it. Still curious, Ritsu flipped through that paper to see if there was an article related to her death as well. Turns out there was…

_Young Woman Found Dead In Forest_

_ "On the afternoon of February 17th, an elderly husband and wife couple were jogging woodland trails when they stumbled across the body of a young woman. The body belonged to Nakano Azusa, a nineteen year old woman who worked as a janitor at local Sakuragaoka High. Her cause of death was suicide with a firearm. She had been reported missing two days earlier, and police were able to gather that she had stolen the gun from her father (a police officer) before hiking down a neglected trail and shooting herself._

_ The last person to talk to her was Suzuki Jun, a friend of the same age. When interviewed and asked about Nakano Azusa's death, she replied, "I never expected it from her. I knew she was depressed but… I just never thought she'd go that far. She hiked that trail that day when she and I were at the park, actually. It's a pretty out of the way trail, so I couldn't find her for hours. When I did find her, she had blood all over her face and arms, and was talking really weird, saying that she was 'feeding a dream'. I thought she was maybe on drugs, and then the next day I hear she went missing."_

_ The parents of Nakano Azusa refused to comment, and are disclosing any further information about their daughter. Despite what Suzuki Jun suspected, Nakano Azusa showed no signs of drug use."_

"Feeding a dream?" Ritsu whispered to herself. She instantly remembered talking to Azusa on the phone a little while after Yui disappeared. Azusa had mentioned dreaming about Yui a lot. Now Ritsu began to wonder if Azusa had taken her own life because she thought that would let her be with her senpai. If that was the case, then Ritsu hoped they were together wherever they were.

She sighed and decided she'd begin flipping through some of the Sunday papers to just check what some of the obituaries were like. Thesheer amount of papers intimidated her, but curiosity drove her forward. She picked papers at random, from random years and months. At first, it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. Car crashes and suicides took up the majority of the obituaries, with the occasional freak accident or incident of second degree murder.

But over the next two hours, a story here and there would get her attention. All the mounting boredom would be erased when she found the account of some shady, implausible death in the forest. It was always the same one, the one near where Yui had lived. There was a story of a young boy hanging himself from a tree with his father's tie. There was a story of a girl found who had starved to death not even a hundred meters from a neighborhood. Then there was the particularly interesting case of an elderly woman disemboweling herself with a kitchen knife out there too.

Ritsu had been focusing intently on that story when the noise of tea glasses clanking shattered her concentration. She looked up to see Mugi placing a tray of hot tea right in front of her with a smile perched on her lips. The drummer was pleasantly surprised.

"Well, I'm impressed. How'd you manage this?" She asked with a smile.

"The librarian offered it when she saw you studying so hard." Mugi told her. "I already finished my book. Did you learn anything?"

Ritsu gave a grim nod, "I did and… I don't know what to think Mugi. This is…"

"What is it, Ricchan? Are you alright?" Mugi pulled up a chair next to her.

The brunette stared at the newspaper lying on the table in front of her. She slowly shook her head and replied, "No, because I'm seeing a trend that shouldn't be real." Ritsu lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'll explain more when we're alone and not in public. But, what happened to Azusa… this isn't the first time. There are a lot of instances, and plenty of stories of kids getting lost in those woods too."

"Oh my…" Mugi was unsure how to react.

Ritsu began folding that paper back to its proper form. "I don't what it means, Mugi. I just can't imagine it being a coincidence at this point. At the same time, it's hard to accept that it's anything more than that. I don't know, let's just drink tea then go home."

"I can do that." Mugi agreed to their plan. They sipped quietly for a few moments before the blonde spoke up again, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Don't know yet." Ritsu admitted. "I want to investigate more. I know that sounds silly, but there has to be _someone_ else around here who's picked up on this. I can't be the only one, and I'm guessing maybe one of the older folks around here may know."

"Can I come with you again?"

"Sure, but, you might get bored since-"

"I don't care about that." Mugi assured her, and then scooted just a little closer so that their shoulders were barely touching. "I just want to be with Ricchan, and help how I can."

"I can appreciate that, thanks Mugi." Ritsu finished her tea. "Ready to get going?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Let's hit the video store on the way back and get something to watch tonight. Something lighthearted, like a romantic comedy."

Mugi agreed with that plan, and went to work finishing her hot beverage. Ritsu returned the newspapers to their proper place as they finished their drinks, then helped Mugi take the tea set back to the librarian. With nothing left to do, they headed back home.

**SUNSET…**

The rain had let up briefly on their way back home. They decided to pick up an old anime film, _Tonari no Totoro_. Ritsu was surprised Mugi had never seen it. That was one of those anime that she assumed _everyone_ had seen sometime in their life. She had the feeling Mugi would like it, since it was light and fluffy, just like her.

They returned home just before the sun began to set. Ritsu's mother was out shopping, and wouldn't be home until late. She had left them some money to order take out with. With Satoshi firmly locked at his computer in his room, the girls were left entirely to their own devices. Mugi asked if she could make dinner for them that night, as opposed to ordering fast food or the like. Ritsu agreed right away, eager to taste whatever Mugi was making. Mugi wanted to make it a surprise, and told Ritsu to wait upstairs for her.

While Mugi was cooking, Ritsu lay down on the futon upstairs and thought over what she had learned that day. She had only looked through articles chosen from the last seven years' worth of papers and was able to find four similar deaths. Part of her considered going back the next day and looking for more, but the walk and tedium of finding those articles discouraged her. The death that stuck with her the most was the girl starving to death, since the paper mentioned it was identical to another case some thirty years back of a boy doing the same thing. Ritsu didn't understand it, had no one pieced these together before her? Not once had she ever heard anything about the forest being dangerous from anyone.

As she thought over that day, she ended up dozing off into a light nap with several bizarre, if not frightening dreams. She briefly dreamed of shadowy, vast landscapes covered with seas of fog. Shapes lingered in the fog, shapes of distorted humanoids shambling just out of view. She dreamed of their low muttering voices, whispering promises of madness in languages surely no human could have spoken.

Ritsu woke up after only thirty minutes of sleeping and felt like something was very wrong. The dreams that had disturbed her sleep were almost instantly forgotten, becoming only a vague memory in the back of her mind. She felt like something had cast a shadow over her; something sinister. She stood up and fixed her hair from its sleep caused mess. Feeling hungry, she went to go check on how Mugi was doing on dinner.

However, downstairs, it didn't look like Mugi had really started on dinner. There were a few pots and pans, and a bottle of soy sauce out on the counter, but no sign of the blonde herself. Now Ritsu was feeling just a tad bit worried for some reason, like something was really wrong. She went upstairs to see if Mugi was taking a bath or something like that, but found the bathroom and restroom both empty. There didn't seem to be any sign of her. Back down stairs, she ran into her brother getting a soda from the fridge and asked him about where Mugi could be.

"Hey, do you know if Mugi went anywhere? She was supposed to start on dinner thirty minutes ago and I can't find her."

Satoshi answered immediately, "Yeah, she left like twenty minutes ago. I was in the front hall and she pretty much shoved past me and-"

"Mugi shoved past you? That can't be true, she'd never shove anyone." Ritsu cut him off. He continued regardless.

"Yeah, walked right through me looking really determined." He told her. "I thought she was going out to the store or something so I offered to run to the corner for her. She told me that wasn't where she was going, so I asked where she was going in case you asked me when you woke up… like you're doing now. She gives me this really weird look and says she has to take care something somewhere. I tell her that you'd probably want to know where she's going, and she just said she was going to the park. Didn't say which one though. You two aren't like, buying drugs are you? Because I know that dealers hang out at that one-"

"No we're not buying drugs!" Ritsu snapped at him, and began quickly walking towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Her brother called after her. "Mom's going to want to know."

"To find Mugi." She replied in haste. Ritsu quickly threw on her shoes and leather jacket and stormed out the door. Outside, the rain had picked up again, and it was going to be dark soon. Something was _definitely_ wrong now, and Ritsu was now feeling terrified of it. This was completely unlike Mugi to just wander off on her own like this. Ritsu knew which park she was going to, the small, old one near Yui's house that bordered against the woods. She didn't know how she knew that, but she just did.

_What if something is making Mugi do what all those other girls did?_

That thought was enough to make Ritsu pick up her pace quite a bit.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Woods

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART 3**

**WOODS**

Ritsu was nearly sprinting through the rain to try and catch up with Mugi. A million theories swirled through her mind about what had gotten into the blonde. One theory was that Mugi had gone off to further investigate alone, and thought that the woods were be a good place to start. Ritsu could almost emphasize with that idea, since it would be like examining the scene of a crime. What didn't make sense was her going alone though. Another theory was that Mugi had been overcome by the same force that made all those other people take their lives. That thought had Ritsu moving as fast as she was. Once again, including the supernatural explained everything. Ritsu was actually beginning to be inclined towards assuming there were paranormal forces at work. So many unrelated, frankly horrifying deaths, all apparently suicides had occurred all in the same place. Now she was afraid that looking into it had damned the two of them.

_What if other people had picked up on what was happening and they're all dead now? What if something doesn't want anyone finding out? If that's true, how did it start? Who was the first to go?_

Whatever the answer was, it'd have to wait until later to be discovered. After twenty minutes or so of running, Ritsu was nearly there. She was out of breath, soaking wet from the rain, but had made great time. There was at least another hour of daylight out. Now only walking quickly, she made it a muddy, small little park nestled against the edge of a forest. The park was a dismal landscape of unmaintained playground equipment, vast puddles of mud, and graffiti stained picnic benches. There was no sign of Mugi.

"_Mugi!"_ Ritsu shouted out, but the only reply was the sound of rain splashing in puddles. Nobody was around, it was doubtful her voice had been heard by a single soul despite a residential neighborhood being just across the street. The neighborhood there looked somehow _dead_. No cars rested in any driveways, the curtains were all closed, and the yards were all empty. They looked like model homes, the kinds used to advertise real ones. Something about them left Ritsu feeling oddly alone.

Unsure exactly what to do now, she took a step into the muddy park towards the tree line. If Mugi had just gone in this direction to visit some store Ritsu didn't know about, then she was going to feel really stupid. That didn't seem the case though, since Satoshi said Mugi had just shoved him out of the way. She had no reason not to believe him, but his story seemed a little off. All the more reason she felt like she had to find Mugi and quick. Another step into the park, and she realized she there was no way to get to the other side without getting her socks wet. Now she was wishing she had gone in sandals. She bore it, splashing through the ankle deep water to the edge of the woods. Even in the ripe and rainy season, the trees seemed gray and lifeless, and she had a decent view into their domain. Mugi was wearing bright colors, which would make her easy to spot in the monochrome forested wasteland. Ritsu walked along the edge of the woods, looking for some kind of beaten trail that Mugi would have gone down. She highly doubted her friend would have just started marching through the soaking wet, thorn covered brush.

At the far side of the park stood a tiny concrete building that served as a restroom. It looked completely unmaintained, and if the doors weren't permanently locked, then anyone using those toilets probably risked getting numerous diseases. Right behind that building was a muddy trail leading off into the wooded unknown. It looked like the kind of trail joggers would take in the early morning, or at least at one point. Now it was too overgrown and narrow to be conducive to running. She would have dismissed if it weren't for one incriminating object lying plainly in the mud.

It was one of Mugi's sandals.

"Oh no…" Ritsu moaned, and stepped towards it. It was right where the trail began; like it was placed there to tell her where to go. Part of her hoped that was the case, that Mugi had left her a clue. Beyond the abandoned sandal, she saw the occasional footprint in the mud leading down the path. She picked up the discarded footwear and shoved it into the pocket, just barely making it fit. Without a second thought, Ritsu began jogging down the trail after her friend. Exhaustion from running across town still burned in her, and each step was more uncomfortable than the last.

What immediately threw her off was just how dead the forest looked once inside. It was the middle of the rainy season, yet looked closer to late autumn, nearly winter. Dead leaves crunched underfoot in the mud, and even the wind had the smell of autumn rain on it. Within quick minutes, civilization behind her had disappeared behind the cover of trees. With the rain and wind being the only noises around her, Ritsu almost felt like she was in another world entirely. It was eerily lonely, and if it weren't for Mugi's occasional barefooted print just barely visible in the waning daylight, she would have turned around. The faster she found Mugi and returned home to dinner and a nice warm bath, the better.

Time was strange here. It felt like she had been travelling that trail for a long time, but at the same time it felt like only a couple of seconds had passed. The trail was getting narrower, but somehow wasn't, had Ritsu been imagining it? The rain, thankfully, but had already done its watery damage. Ritsu was soaked to the core, and freezing because of it. She slowed down her pace, and felt like it was too quiet now without the rain falling. The woods should have been alive with sounds after the rain. Yet, it was almost silent, like the drops of water covering everything refused to fall and create their ritual cacophony of post storm noise. Ritsu's pant leg snagged on a thorn, a thorn that felt closer to a fishhook. She flinched in surprise, nearly letting out a shout, and saw that on either side of her was twisting brambles of dead thorn bushes. Maybe at one point they had been rosebushes or something of the like, but now they were just serrated vines that served as dead guardians of this trail.

What bothered her about this was that they had… she struggled to believe this… appeared out of nowhere. One moment she had been trekking down dull, wet woods, and the next moment she was surrounded by meters and meters of thorns. Slowly, she stepped forward, careful not to catch her pants in more of them. She had only centimeters of space on ether side, like the thorns had crept up with the intent to trap her. Her step was met with more thorny vines beneath her foot, pressed down by her shoe. She glanced behind quickly, and saw that the dead bushes were blocking her way back. The reason she looked back was because she didn't see the reason in going forward. Mugi _couldn't_ have gone this way with the thorns hiding just beneath the mud. Her feet would have been lacerated if she did.

This was where Ritsu accepted it though, that theses woods around her were cursed, haunted, possessed, _something_. Ahead of her, some ten meters ahead where the thorns around the trail ended, there was a snatch of bright colored fabric caught on a vine. It was part of Mugi's shirt, another 'clue' left for her to find. Ritsu was afraid though; afraid to move forward, go back the way she came, or even close her eyes now. She was afraid that they'd find her body tangled up in a mass of razor sharp thorns. They'd find her there and assume it was just a very bizarre suicide. Despite how horrible terrified she was, she had to keep going to find Mugi. Mustering what little courage she had in such an awful place, Ritsu pressed forward, intent on reaching the end of the thorny trail. She took one long, high step, trying to avoid any dead plants catching her.

It didn't work. Serrated thorns sliced at the side of legs, right below the knee. She didn't see them even touch her, but still the skin ignited in pain and her jeans were neatly torn. The pain and surprise caused her to let out a curt shout. This was like trying to traverse through a curtain of barbed wire. Heart beating faster than it ever had, she took another step, and felt another cut appear right above her elbow. She stopped, and slowly raised her arm, and pulled back the sleeve of her leather jacket to examine it. A thin line was sliced into her skin, with blood slowly oozing out and mingling with the rainwater still on her. The leather didn't seem to be damaged at all. Her whole body shook from terror at this impossibly placed wound. None of the thorns reached above her knee, this was impossible.

Panic erupted in Ritsu. It was a panic that managed to override her paralyzing fear. She broke into a headlong, clumsy sprint to get out of the razor sharp death trap that surrounded her. It wasn't a long distance to the end of the thorns, she could make it. She shut her eyes as she ran, trying to imagine that the thorns were a two meters high and towering around her. That way the cuts they left on her would have made sense. As she ran, her pant legs tore in multiple places, ripping loudly. Her shirt snagged multiple times, loosing chunks of fabric whenever it happened. Not every thorn that caught her managed to leave a cut, thankfully. When she finally broke out of the thorny trap, and slammed into a large camphor tree, only a few cuts had been left on her slender body.

She slumped against the rain soaked tree, and let herself fall into a sitting position. Her heart was still beating like crazy, her hands were still shaking, but she felt an extreme sense of relief to be out of the thorns. The cuts against her legs and arms stung terribly, like cat scratches. Sitting there, Ritsu was overcome with feelings of loneliness and fear so strong that she was tempted to just sprint back the way she had come. Part of her knew that leaving wouldn't be so simple, and she wondered if she would be even able to leave. Coming here was a bad idea, but there was no way she could have known that. Now she could only wonder if those deaths had truly been suicides.

Ritsu managed to get to her feet again. Unbeknownst to her, Azusa had slumped against that same tree when fleeing the same thorns. The trail she had planned to keep following was now completely gone. The thorns that had clawed at her weren't there anymore either. Ritsu stood alone in darkening, wet woods with no real direction anymore.

_This just keeps getting better and better… _She thought, and had to resist the urge to scream. No matter what, she had to find Mugi, that was certain. The sky was darkening faster now, and with the heavy clouds there would be no moon or starlight to guide her way. With no real options, Ritsu kept going the way the trail had been leading. This time, she just had to stomp through the underbrush, hoping she'd see some sign of Mugi. Fear and the extreme longing to leave this terribly lonely place were the two emotions Ritsu felt above all. She wanted so badly just to be home, that the longing was building into a tense frustration within her. She wanted to be back on that futon of her room's floor with Mugi right next to her. Safe and sound.

Those feelings provided the motivation she needed to plunge further into the dark unknown that was this forest. Part of her wanted Mio to be at her side, just so that she wouldn't be completely alone. She knew that Mio would be a terrified wreck, but she still would have preferred that over loneliness. Stumbling through the dim underbrush, Ritsu thought about Mio and realized they hadn't talked in weeks. She felt a little bad about that, but at the same time wasn't worried about their relationship at all. She knew that the two of them were close enough friends that they could go without talking for months without any problems. That didn't stop her from being a little jealous of Mio having a boyfriend.

_Why am I thinking about this now of all times?_

"Ritsu." A female voice from to the left of her nearly made her jump out of her skin. Ritsu stifled a scream of surprise and turned quickly to see who had said that. Her eyes deceived her as she looked straight at a girl who was supposed to be dead. Nakano Azusa stood there in her Sakuragaoka uniform, only a few meters away.

"_A-Azusa?_" Ritsu gasped. She could feel her heart beating faster and harder than even before.

'Azusa' nodded, and spoke in a strict, nearly emotionless tone. "That's right. It's me. The girl you and your friends forgot about. I don't blame you for forgetting me. All I was doing was holding you back, like I'm doing right now. You're supposed to be looking for Mugi-senpai, but I'm stalling you."

Ritsu took a cautionary step backwards, shaking with fear from the ghostly visage of her friend. Stammering, she managed to reply, "Y-You're supposed to be _dead_. What… what's going on? Is this all a dream?"

"Life and death really don't mean all that much here. In the eyes of the forest's keeper, you've died a thousand times. We all have." Azusa told her.

"What's that even supposed to mean?" Ritsu took another step back.

"Nothing, to you at least. Just like me. Nothing here means anything to you. It has no reason to."

"You can't be Azusa, you're something else." Ritsu decided aloud. "You're part of this place, aren't you?"

She nodded once. "You could say that."

That some how gave the living girl enough courage to shout out, "Then tell me what's going on with all those people dying! I want to know why my Azusa took her own life!"

"I couldn't tell you why each individual person died. Nobody knows all the answers." This mockery of Azusa spoke like what she said should have been obvious. "The reason _your_ Azusa left your world is different than the reasons all the other people did. This conversation is meaningless. I'm only here to tell you two things, because _they _are worried of your safety."

"Who is 'they'?"

"Telling you would leave your entire perception of reality more destroyed than it already is. Just let me talk. First off, you're going the right way. Keep going. Run though. Run and don't ever look behind you. Don't ever look behind unless you plan on going in that direction. Second, the more you suffer and the more afraid you are, the worse things become. Be thankful you learned that now instead of later. Goodbye."

"Wait, don't go just yet!" Ritsu shouted as the figure in Azusa's form turned to walk away. "Tell me where Mugi is, you said I was going the right way, does that mean you know?"

"She's here, but is getting close to her destination. I'd stop her if I were you. If she gets there, she'll be impossible to find and things will get… problematic… Stop talking to me and run."

"Th-Thank you!" Ritsu blurted out, gave her a quick bow, and then began running like she was told to do. Running through the cluttered, overgrown ground wasn't easy, but she managed to stop from tripping or getting held up too much.

Her mind frantically tried to make sense of what had just happened. That had been Azusa, but at the same time it hadn't been. She had been helpful, but at same time completely useless. She had told her to just keep doing what she had been doing the whole time, but faster. Not to mention, Ritsu already knew that being afraid and suffering made everything worse. She didn't need a creepy copy of her dead friend to spell it out for her.

As if only to make her run just a bit faster, she saw figures move out of the corner of her eyes. They were inhumanly quick, always darting out of view before she could look at them. All she could gather was that they were human shaped, and seemed only to reside in the shadows of her peripheral vision. If she tried to turn her head to catch them as they darted away, they'd be completely gone. These figures were whispering too, just loud enough for her to hear. Their chorus of mutters was completely impossible to understand.

_Please just let this be a nightmare! Just let me wake up! I don't want to be in this dream anymore._

She shut her eyes hard as she mentally screamed those words. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she felt more than ten years younger. She felt like a little kid who wanted their mother to turn on the lights and show them that the things the darkness were harmless. She wanted it to all just be her imagination, and for something to just make it all go away.

Before she could dwell too much in those thoughts as she ran, her salvation appeared in the distance. Fog began to appear around Ritsu as she spotted a form in the distance, partially obscured by the thickening mist. It could have only been Mugi.

"Mugi, hey, it's me!" She shouted out. Mugi kept walking, only a vague silhouette in darkness ahead. Ritsu assumed she hadn't been heard, since her voice was weak from the exhaustion brought upon from running so much in the last hour. Again she yelled, "Mugi, wait up, I'm here!"

Beyond Mugi, the fog was getting thicker, and Ritsu could tell that it only got thicker beyond that. If Mugi wondered into that, and made any sort of change in direction, she would be lost. Ritsu now knew what 'Azusa' had meant earlier. Beneath her, the forest floor disappeared into hardpan dirt and the trees around her were thinning out. The woods were giving way to whole other world of fog, darkness, and unseen horror.

She grabbed onto Mugi from behind, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her tight. For a briefly moment, Mugi didn't react in the slightest, like she was in some kind of hypnotized trance. Ritsu held onto her and found herself laughing in relief as they stood there.

"…Ricchan?" Mugi spoke up after a moment of being hugged from behind.

"Yeah, it's me, Mugi!" She laughed. "You're safe; oh thank God you're safe. I'm so happy right now I feel like I could cry."

"I'm so sorry, Ricchan…" Mugi sounded on the verge of tears. "I don't know what happened to me. I remember walking all the way here and thinking that you were going to be worried, but I couldn't stop myself. I saw the fog, and was afraid of it, but couldn't stop walking. I was even rude to your brother. I don't know what happened!"

"Don't worry about it; let's just get out of here." Ritsu released her from her hugging arms. They both turned around to face the woods, and Mugi grabbed onto Ritsu's hand, holding it tight. "Something was trying to do… something to you, I think, I don't know. I'm really confused right now, but glad you're okay. I really, really just want to go home with you."

"I do too." Mugi squeezed her hand harder. "Do you know the way back?"

"No…" She admitted. "I walked pretty much in a straight line to get here, but I get the feeling walking out won't be so easy. We don't really have a choice though. I don't know if you know, but these woods aren't normal, Mugi. On the way here, I saw and heard things that shouldn't have been real. I got hurt too, see…"

"Ricchan, you're bleeding!" Mugi instantly gasped when Ritsu showed her the cuts the thorns had left. "We need to get you home right away!"

"Yeah, I know, I know." Ritsu rolled her sleeve back down. She reached into her pocket and produced Mugi's missing sandal. "Here, you probably want this."

Mugi quickly slipped it back on and hand in hand, the two began their walk back under a dark and cloudy sky. The darkness had reduced the forest to just darks shapes against a darker background. It had gone from being deathly quiet to uncomfortably noisy with 'natural' sounds. Wind whistled through the trees, the sound of water dripping echoed in all direction, and crickets were trying to make as much noise as possible it seemed. It was also cold, cold enough that the remnants of rain should have been frozen over. The started back into the forest, and Ritsu wondered how comfortable Mugi was walking in sandals there. She ushered that thought out of her head; it really should have been the least of her worries. A strange sense of chivalry sparked inside her, and she was half tempted to offer to carry Mugi. She doubted she could do that for very long, even if drumming regularly and going through the police academy had done wonders to keep her fit.

"Do you hear that?" Mugi whispered in the dark.

"I don't…" Ritsu went to reply, then stopped and realized she heard those distant voices from before again. "Oh god, I do. I could hear those noises on my way here too."

"What do you think it is? It sounds like whispering."

"I have no idea, Mugi." Ritsu admitted. "There's something up with these woods, if that wasn't already obvious to you. I didn't mention it earlier, but at the library, when I was studying, I learned a lot."

"About these woods?" Mugi cautiously asked.

"About what happened in these woods." Ritsu answered. "Lots and lots of suicides and weird deaths throughout the years, none of them made any sense." She blinked back tears and squeezed Mugi's hand. "I was so afraid that was going to happen to you too!"

"Ricchan…" Mugi exhaled, nearly in tears herself.

"Don't scare me like that!" The caramel haired girl shouted, throwing a punch a Mugi's arm. The keyboardist didn't flinch at the blow, but felt awful for making her friend worry.

"I'm sorry Ricchan; I really wasn't trying to scare you." Mugi told her.

"I know it wasn't your fault, and that's what's scaring me more." Ritsu used her other arm to wipe tears from her eyes. "Come on; let's get out of here before we talk about this."

"Yes, that's a good idea." Mugi nodded.

Ritsu had a suspicion this was going to be easier said than done as they began their march towards what was hopefully the exit. If they just headed in that single direction, they'd reach the park or the area near it. Ritsu felt like it would just be that easy though. She expected kilometers of obstacles to be put in their path, and more maddening sounds and sights to slowly whittle away at her brain. She glanced at Mugi who looked more guilty than afraid; guilty that she had dragged her Ricchan into this terrifying wreck. The blonde wasn't quite as connected to reality as her dusk haired pal. She had trouble focusing on where she was, or what she was doing. Her mind was foggy as she followed Ritsu, firmly gripping her hand. Ricchan knew what to do; she'd get them out of there. In the meantime, Mugi ignored the shadows moving in the corner of her eyes, and the dark whispers in her brain.

Ritsu was more focused and alert than her absent minded friend. This was a blessing in how it allowed her to keep forward while vigilant, but was a curse in how she had to take in her environment fully. It was an impossible mix of deathly silence and deafening noise. There was this strange sort of buzzing all around her, and she wondered if Mugi was hearing it too. The buzzing was mixed with the drone of distant whispering voices that were heavy and latent with frustration that she could feel radiating throughout this very place. What drove her nearly mad was how she couldn't discern if the noise was in her head or in the woods. There was no clear distinction, the line between reality and what could be insanity was so smudged that it practically wasn't there anymore.

The forest itself was simply a collage of dark shapes that anyone older than a small child would have no reason to be afraid of. It was still and damp, and didn't seem the have the menacing and melancholic traits that it did when Ritsu had come in. Yet, it was worse with that god damned noise ringing in her ears and brain. The drummer had to grit her teeth and bear with it as a headache began to form, yet Mugi seemed perfectly content. Was she somehow immune to this auditory torture? Ritsu wanted to say something or ask her about it, but was afraid to. She suddenly didn't want to know if Mugi heard it or not. Either answer was bad. If she did hear it, that meant this place was clearly supernatural and evil, and if she didn't then it meant Ritsu was fucking insane.

_All aboard the Crazy Train Ricchan! We're hitting stops in mania, dementia, paranoia and insanity to so pack your bags and take a seat! Here, take the window seat so you can get a clear view of everything destroying your mind!_

Ritsu almost laughed at the cheery voice in her head. The voice was a little belayed though, since she had jumped aboard the crazy train the moment she stepped into the booze ridden home of their dear dead friend Azusa.

Mugi leaned against her, head resting against the drummer's shoulder like she was about to fall asleep while walking. Ritsu envied her, wishing she could just black out the rain soaked woods and collapse into the numbing oblivion of sleep. Instead, she had to walk through here and deal with her thoughts and everything that destroyed her perception of what was real and what wasn't. The prize winner for most disturbing encounter thus far was easily the simulacrum of Azusa, who bore cryptic warnings and spoke in riddles and metaphors. The sight of their dearly departed twin-tailed guitarist had assured Ritsu that everything here was indeed far from alright. But, what did it all mean? From what she could gather, some sinister force had charmed Mugi and made her walk out here and nearly get lost in a vast sea of fog that had no reason to exist. The form of Azusa had warned her that Mugi disappearing into said fog would be disastrous; although Ritsu could have gathered that on her own. Now Mugi seemed to be in a tranquil daze that worried the drummer. She hoped Mugi would snap out of it when they were back at her home. If not, then she had a pretty big blonde haired problem on her hands.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden surge of emotion that seemed to come from the very trees around her. It was pure, unbridled frustration that echoed through the two of them. Mugi felt it too, and latched onto Ritsu, grabbing handfuls of her white shirt and giving a squeak of both fear and surprise. Ritsu yanked Mugi into a protective hug, and could have sworn she heard an unearthly, animalistic howl of rage.

She hadn't though; it had just been in her head. It was like her mind was adding in sound effects that would have fit the environment. She heard about psychology stuff like this before, and how the human brain was such a fascinating thing. A similar example was how several years ago, she and her brother had jumped into the multiplayer of _Call of Duty 4_, a first person shooter they played on their computers. In the game, players could place explosive mines called 'claymores' that would click prior to detonating and usually killing an enemy player. After playing for a few weeks (she stopped playing not long after), that click had become iconic to Ritsu since it was so commonplace. Come around the corner, *click*, bam, dead. She quit the game and moved onto bigger and better things, but whenever she saw a picture of a claymore mine, her mind instantly heard that signature *click* every time without fail. That false howl had been just like that, her mind filling in the gaps for her, whether she liked it or not.

The sense of frustration the forest emitted reminded her of another video game related story that involved her brother. Back when Satoshi was ten years old, he had gotten the game _Shadow of the Colossus _for their PlayStation 2. The console was set up in the living room, where Ritsu had been doing her math homework while her brother played the game. The basic premise of _Shadow of the Colossus_ was that you played as some unnamed hero having defeat sixteen monolithic titan statues to rescue your girlfriend or something; Ritsu couldn't quite remember. The later colossi became increasingly difficult as the methods to defeat them became more and more counter intuitive to basic problem solving. Being ten years old, Satoshi simply didn't have the cognitive mental ability to solve what amounted to puzzles to defeat these foes. Time and time again he would lose the fight and have to start all over from square one. Each time he would get progressively more and more angry as ten year olds often do. It eventually got to the point where he was screaming at the television in anger, claiming that the game was unfair, cheating, and that _Ico_ software was out to piss him off personally. As Ritsu had sat nearby, she could feel the frustration her brother was feeling radiating off of him in waves. It left her with an uncomfortable feeling inside her, making her unsure if she was supposed to stay silent, leave, or try to offer words of encouragement. Sometimes Mio would get frustrated studying, and get angry as well, resulting in those same waves of emotion.

The likeliness of the empathy she had for the forest, and the empathy she had towards loved ones was frightening. As Ritsu held onto Mugi, who was now quietly sobbing from the same feeling, she silently prayed for this to just all end. That feeling grew and grew around them like it was building to some kind of mockery of a sexual climax. It was like the forest was trying to make its disdain towards the two of them known. Mugi let out a quick, sobbing cry and latched onto Ritsu harder, digging her nails into her friend's breast without even realizing it. Ritsu winced momentarily as the sharp pain, but kept Mugi close to her, trying so hard to wait it out. The more intense the feeling got, the more the forest around them seemed to warp and blur, becoming less substantial and harder to focus on. Its visage wavered and twisted, but at the same time remained strangely static. If Ritsu tried to focus on it, her head would begin to hurt, and she would involuntarily grind her teeth so hard it felt like they would break. Mugi had her eyes closed and her head buried under Ritsu's chin, which kept her blind to the horror of the trees.

And like a sudden explosion that followed the click of a claymore mine, everything wrong with the woods suddenly ceased to be. The sudden change left Ritsu with the sensation of falling in her sleep. Mugi let out a gasp, but finally stopped grabbing onto her friend with her nails. Her grip had left Ritsu's right breast bleeding ever so slightly from her fingernails.

"What… what the hell was that?" Ritsu found herself gasping for breath.

"I… I don't know Ricchan!" Mugi whimpered, struggling to speak through her fear and sobbing. "This… this is my fault though. The forest is mad at me for leaving. I can just feel it!"

"H-Hey, what are you talking about? This isn't your fault!" Ritsu shouted at her. "Whatever's going on, it has nothing to do with you, don't even think that for a second. We're going to be alright. Now that little… whatever that was is over, let's get our butts out of here and never come back."

Before Mugi could reply, a third person did. It was a woman whose voice nearly made the two of them scream and piss themselves from surprise.

"What are you two doing out here so late?" A confused, yet slightly concerned voice asked. Ritsu suddenly felt like bursting into laughter from relief. If this was a normal person, then all of this was finally over. If this was a product of the blackness of the forest like Azusa, well than she and Mugi were probably more fucked than they already were.

"W-We're lost, can you help us?" Mugi pleaded, stepping back from Ritsu finally.

"You're lost?" The stranger stepped close enough that they could see her in the dark. She was a pretty girl, somewhere in her twenties with dark hair that touched her shoulders in messy, uncombed waves. The 'wild' look was pulled off well, and went good with her thick rimmed black glasses. Her eyes were a bright brown, nearly caramel color like Ritsu's hair. The only thing that really took away from the girl was her clothes. Black jeans, converses (seriously, 2012, wearing converse sneakers? Really?) and a black band shirt sporting the logo of a little infamous act known as _ROTTING CHRIST_. Ritsu hurt her eyes squinting to read the name in the obnoxious squiggly red English text it was written in. While reading it, she was able to tell this woman wasn't wearing a bra.

"Yeah, lost." Ritsu nervously nodded, suddenly worried about this stranger. The skin of her arms was a little too pale, making her seem either like an otaku or nocturnal.

"Shit, this ain't somewhere you wanna be lost." The girl shook her head. "Seriously, you know what kinda shit happens to people out here at night?"

"Yeah. We do." Ritsu nodded, frowning slightly. "I'm… I'm Tainaka Ritsu, a policewoman from Tokyo. This is my lovely friend, Kotobuki Tsumugi, a student of a prestigious university."

"I'm pleased to meet you." Despite her fear, Mugi was still capable of giving a proper bow.

"I'm Sugiura Ayumu, nice to meet you both." Ayumu nodded at them. "Come on; let's not waste any more time standing the fuck around here. My car's parked off the side of the road not too far from here, you two. I can give you both a ride home or what the fuck ever, but you gotta do something for me first."

"If you start playing games, we're gonna have a problem, sister." Ritsu threatened, taking a step towards Mugi protectively.

"Hey, calm the fuck down I just wanna know what you two are doing in these woods when you know what happens to people here."

"Right, fair enough, sorry I snapped at you." Ritsu apologized and took Mugi's hand again. "We'll tell you, so let's please just get out of here."

"Yeah, come on, I know the way out." Ayumu beckoned them to follow her, and they did. The black clad stranger seemed to be able to weave between the trees and plants like she knew them all like the back of her hand. All of the sounds and sights that made the woods horrifying were now gone as they meandered through the wet underbrush. Ayumu moved quickly, and Ritsu had trouble sometimes keeping up with her as she dragged Mugi along. Why the girl didn't bring a flashlight with her was a fucking mystery of the twenty-first century. Meanwhile, Ritsu felt a strange sense of guilt for having to bring Mugi along with her in these filthy woods. Her fine, expensive designer clothes were ruined with rain and dirt, and she was certainly feeling lost and afraid.

Ritsu felt absolutely awful for making Mugi suffer through this. To her, the girl was this sweet and innocent thing that she wanted to protect and keep pure. Sure, she loved showing Mugi new things like she had during their one day out in high school. Candy and arcades were one thing, marching through woods possessed by demons was something completely different. This felt all wrong, and in a different era the only respectable thing to do at that point would have been to gut herself with a wakizashi. That idea of a samurai suicide ritual made Ritsu briefly think of those ancient days of feudal lords and warring clans. Had she lived in those times, she certainly would have picked up a sword to defend Mugi from forest dwelling demons to her last!

Before they knew it, Ayumu lead out of the last line of trees and onto the side of a desolate stretch of road, dark beneath the black cloudy sky. Dim streetlights placed ever ten meters or so kept the road mildly illuminated. There was no sign of the city, or any human development beyond those lights.

Ayumu pointed across the road to a large shadow. "There, that's my car. I'll give you two a ride wherever, and you'll tell me what made you go in there, alright? And I know you're fucking wondering what my stupid ass was doing in there, so I'll tell you that too."

"Thanks, we appreciate it." Mugi gave a polite smile.

The black haired girl's eyes saw the two holding hands, and she asked, "Wait, you two seem kinda close. You, uh, dating? Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those conservative faggots who gets their panties is a fucking knot over gays. I think it's kinda cute."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, we're not like that at all!" Ritsu quickly replied, and let go of Mugi's hand.

The blonde gave a sigh, eyes down cast. "We're just friends."

"Ah, right, shit, sorry." Ayumu apologized, and headed for her black and beaten sedan. "I got shit in the front seat, so you two gotta sit in the back."

"That's fine." Ritsu assured her, and went for the driver's side door in the back. "You coming, Mugi?"

"Y-Yeah." She nodded, and stopped looking at the ground. She caught up and took her seat next to Ritsu in the back. The inside of the car smelled awful, reeking of cigarettes and pot smoke. There were fast food wrappers all over the place, along with scattered blank CD's that had the various names of extreme metal bands written on them in sharpie. Ritsu saw at least one pair of potentially dirty panties hiding among the mess there too. Across from her, Mugi looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ritsu leaned and placed a comforting hand on her friend's leg.

"Nothing, just tired." Mugi lied, and pressed her cheek to the cold window.

"Yeah, it's been a rough night." Ritsu sat back again. "Well, Ayumu-san, here's what happened. We used to have this friend who…"

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	4. Refuge

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART 4**

**REFUGE**

"Alright, so your friend fucking bit the bullet in those woods a couple months ago." Sugiura Ayumu hadn't hard started the car yet. She was waiting for Ritsu to finish the story.

"Could you please be a little more sensitive about this?" Mugi frowned, still incredibly shaken up from their ordeal in the forest. Even if they were out of it, they certainly weren't home yet.

"Right, right, shit, sorry." She apologized, sort of. "Anyway, let me get this all straight here. Girl you both know just disappears and her someone fucking goes to town on her sister with a knife. Then their best friend, who's also your friend shoots herself, but you two didn't know this until like yesterday. You said it was dreams that made you come here?"

"Yeah, I had dreams that made me want to come and check on Azusa." Ritsu answered.

"That's what happened to me too." Mugi added.

Ayumu nodded, "What were these dreams like?"

"Hard to explain." Ritsu had to think hard for a moment. "They were mostly dreams of our friend, Azusa being alone in the woods like these ones, and her needing my help. I had them a couple weeks ago, and made the time just recently to come and visit. I was too late of course. The big thing I remember from those dreams was how dark everything was, and how the sky seemed to sort swirl around too."

"And you?" The black haired girl glanced at Mugi.

"I'd rather not say." Mugi exhaled, avoiding eye contact.

"Why's what?" She probed.

"I just don't want to talk about it." The blonde answered.

"Look, I'm trying to fucking help so just indulge me." Ayumu frowned.

Ritsu then intervened. "Hey! If Mugi doesn't want to tell you, she doesn't have to. This is really personal stuff to just be telling a stranger, why do you want to know?"

"Aha! The million dollar question!" The lady in black laughed. "Ritsu, Mugi-san, you two are in the presence of someone who has been studying the local occult for a good six years now. These woods are a fucking hotspot for this shit with the laundry list of unexplained happenings, like the stuff you found in those obituaries. But oh no, no, no, it goes fucking deeper than that I'll tell you. Dig around a bit, and you start learning about some really crazy shit that happened in this area back when people thought the Emperor was a fucking god and village wide bukakke sessions on a single priestess were socially acceptable!"

"Okay, enough with the imagery." Ritsu scowled, blinking a brief mental image of a shrine maiden being basted with male spunk out of her head. She hoped against hope the same picture wasn't conjured in Mugi's mind. There were parts of her nation's old culture that Ritsu really _didn't_ like.

"Well, back then there used to be this village in those woods." She excitedly told Ritsu. "I guess some really fucked up shit went down there. I'm talking little kids getting sacrificed to ancient pagan gods, oni spirits, and shit like that. Yeah, kids getting sacrificed, crazy suicides, cattle mutilations, and a lot of kidnappings from surrounding communities. Well, the fucking twentieth century rolls around, and right around the time that we're becoming buddies with our pals over in the Third Reich; the Japanese government decides it's had a fucking 'nough of this little creepy village. So, they give a town wide eviction notice and the whole place is burned to the ground. Problem is, none of that creepy shit happening around the over villages ever stopped. Your little friend Azusa looks like another in a long line. People thought it was because the people from that village just continued doing their creepy stuff in other places, but none of them were ever caught and there isn't any proof to support that claim."

"God... I don't… I don't believe this." Ritsu shook her head. "I mean, how come I've never heard of any of this stuff before? We live right by here, we should have heard about _some_ of this."

"I don't understand either." Mugi sighed.

Ayumu raised a finger. "That, my friends, is because not many people fucking know about this. Back when that village got torched, the government wanted to kinda keep it under wraps. It was an isolated enough town that nobody beyond the real close communities knew about it, and the people who did know didn't care. People didn't talk about it, and were glad that this place was gone. I was in the woods because I've been trying to fucking find the ruins of that place for months now."

"Why! Why would you possibly want to find them?" Ritsu shouted in disbelief at her.

"Because I wanna see what it can tell me about the shit that goes on in those woods!" The black haired girl snapped at her. "I mean, fuck, you know what it's like there! People go in there alone, end up either dead or get these crazy ass audio and visual hallucinations and end up fucking kilometers away from where they came in within fucking minutes. That place is haunted, possessed, _something_, and I'm wanting to know what's causing it."

"So you can what, stop it?" Ritsu asked.

Ayumu shook her head, "No, I don't give a damn about that. I'm just curious, you know? This is crazy stuff that nobody else knows about but me and a few of the older priests in the local shrines. They were really cool with hooking me up with some documents from early 20th century, and even shit that's over a century old. Then one of the more influential priest guys decided I was a fucking demon witch or something and now I get chased away from those shrines and get cease and desist letters if I publish any information about this online."

"They're very sensitive about this stuff." Mugi spoke up. "Those priests I mean, and I kind of agree with them. I think this information is sort of on a need-to-know basis, and I'm starting to think Ricchan and I need to know. What else can you tell us?"

"Well, I covered the real fucking basics." Ayumu shrugged. "Look, like I said, I got a bunch of those docs back at my place. I'm talkin' letters, a few blurry pictures, telegraphs and even some fucking police reports from back then! This stuff is gold! If you wanna come over to my place and check 'em all out, be my fucking guest. You two seem cool, so you know what, I insist! I got this real fucking little cozy place all to myself."

"It's tempting…" Mugi placed a finger on her chin. "You kind of helped us out of a bind, Ayumu-san, are you sure this is alright? Wouldn't we be imposing?"

"Shit, not at all!" She happily and vulgarly assured Mugi. "I barely get to hang out with people, nonetheless people who know the same stuff I do. No, really, I insist."

"I don't think we can pass up this opportunity to learn more." Ritsu agreed. "I think… I think all these pieces to a puzzle are spread out, and we're starting to find them for the first time. If we can put the pieces together, and see what they make, maybe we can also undo this? I don't know, this is just off the top of my head. I've heard stories of spirits and demons being exorcized with holy rites. Maybe we can do something similar."

"That would be kind of a good idea, yes." Mugi smiled at Ritsu's suggestion. "It also seems very proper and Japanese. I like it! Wait, shouldn't you call your mother and tell her where we will be?"

"Oh, good thinking Mugi!" Ritsu gasped, and went for her cell phone in her pocket. She made a quick phone call to her mother, who was obviously curious to where the two girls had been for the last couple hours. Ritsu told her that they had met up with a friend from high school, and had gone out for drinks and were going to stay at her place. Mrs. Tainaka believed her story without question and told her daughter to have fun and stay safe before they said goodbye and hung up.

_Stay safe. Heh._

One question that Ritsu may have been asked in this situation was, _Hey Ricchan, why didn't you use your phone to call for help in the woods?_ Her fearful mind had caused her to forget that was an option. Even if she had remembered, who would she call and just how would they help?

_Hey mom, I'm in the middle of the woods, completely lost, a dead friend talked to me, and thorns scraped me up. Can I get a ride home?_

"Right, so where do you live, Ayumu-san?" Ritsu asked as she put her cell phone back in the pocket of her leather jacket.

"Hey, call me Yumi-chan. It's a lot more fucking feminine since Ayumu is pretty much a fucking dude's name anyway." She grumbled and put her keys in the ignition. "I live about fifty kilometers down the road here. My place is kind of in the sticks, not really in any town."

"You can call me Mugi-chan." The blonde keyboardist happily smiled to what she was considering her new friend. She outstretched her hand for Yumi to shake, and continued, "I can't thank you enough for helping us get out of those woods. You two are right, there's something definitely very bad going on, and I think we should everything we can to stop it."

"Heh, well said Mugi." Ritsu giggled.

Ayumu enthusiastically shook Mugi's hand, smiling the whole way, and replied, "You know what sweetheart, I think I'll help you two if you really fucking think you can make a difference. Plus, how could I disagree with a little cutie like Mugi-chan?"

The black haired girl shot Mugi a quick wink. The blonde instantly blushed, bashfully replying with, "Th-Thank you."

"Yeah, now you just sit back and enjoy the ride cutie." She sat back normally in the driver's seat and finally started the car. As she shifted it out of neutral she muttered, "Yeah, I can totally see why _he_ chose you."

"Wait, what?" Ritsu asked at her staggeringly creepy and bizarre statement.

"Nothing, just being fucking weird." Ayumu laughed. "Say, you two like music?"

"You… could say that." Ritsu didn't feel any better. She glanced over at Mugi, who looked really bothered by what Ayumu had just said. It struck too close to home with all the unexplainable things that had just happened in the woods. Her face was pale, and her hands were trembling. Ritsu unbuckled her seatbelt and slid over to sit in the middle space of the back seat, right against Mugi. She put her arm around Mugi's shoulder, trying to give her some platonic comfort.

"Man, you sure you two aren't like-"

"Yes we're sure!" Ritsu snapped at the driver, struggling to maintain her cool. If this Ayumu didn't start keeping her comments to herself, Ritsu was going to see if she couldn't bust her for possession at a later date. The whole car smelled like pot smoke, and chances were her house would too.

Ayumu pulled onto the road and began driving, going slightly over the speed limit. As she continued down the straight and narrow road, she turned on the CD player to grace them with the glorious and renewing sound of death metal. The song that played, _Cannibal Corpse's The Bleeding_, seemed to play out like every last death metal song ever to Ritsu. It started off with an almost decent intro with some impressive musicianship then just plummeted into nonsense when the singer began his work.

Besides the obnoxious grunting of Chris Barnes over down tuned guitars and double bass, the trip through the dark was almost enjoyable. Mugi leaned against Ritsu, resting her head on her shoulder and spent most of the ride dozing off. The only time she paid any attention to the music was when the mix CD Ayumu was playing hit the band _Children of Bodom's_ self-titled song, since they sample Beethoven's fifth for several measures. She found that part actually a little interesting with her soft spot for neo-classical music. Besides that, she just sat there contently against the warm body that was Ritsu's. The smell of Ritsu's leather jacket was like candy to her nose, and it made her consider picking up her own cool leather jacket next chance she got. She couldn't wear it at the same time as Ritsu though, because she didn't want to steal her friend's image, or take away from it. The drummer just looked so… so _bad ass_ with that jacket. It made Mugi want to convince her to pose in cool ways with it later too.

By the time they arrived at Ayumu's little place forty-five minutes later, Mugi was already fast asleep and dreaming about her days in Sakuragaoka with her best friends. Ritsu gently nudged the girl to wake her up, and sleepily she followed the other two inside.

The house was a two bedroom little place surrounded by undeveloped property. Thankfully it wasn't forest around it, but knee high grass covering small hills. The grass on the lawn of her home didn't look like it had ever seen a lawn mower. The windows were dirty and smudged from the outside and covered with blankets pinned the wall from the inside. A little ways down the road there were a few other houses, but it was hard to tell if they were even occupied or not. No lights shone from any of them.

The inside certainly wasn't much better. Papers, books, and empty fast food and take-out containers covered every available surface. The only thing that seemed remotely clean was the computer desk and the absurdly expensive looking computer that resided on it. The black leather swivel chair –which no longer swiveled- in front of it looked well used, like it was where Sugiura spent most of her time. The surface of the desk was clean and polished as well, a staggering contrast to the filthiness of the rest of the whole. The air smelled like more weed, not to Ritsu's surprise at all, along with the smell of microwaved noodles and dirty dishes that were crying out to be cleaned from the sink.

"Don't let looks deceive you; I got all the important shit organized." Ayumu told them as she _walked across the carpet in her shoes_ and dropped her car keys on her computer desk. Mugi and Ritsu slipped her their shoes next to door, and Ritsu hung up her jacket on a hook above an empty umbrella basket.

"Hmm, what a cozy little place." Mugi tried to sound pleasant.

"Hey, thanks." Ayumu walked back towards them from her desk. "So, bathroom's pretty big actually since this used to be a hostile or something like that. Uhh, you two hungry? I could fucking whip something up. Just let me open up the windows in the spare bedroom, since it's kinda musty in there."

"Yeah, food would be great, thanks." Ritsu hadn't realized how hungry she was until dinner was mentioned. Neither of them had eaten yet. The drummer nudged Mugi and asked, "Do you want to go straight to bed? You look tired."

Mugi smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm wide awake now. I uh… need to uh…"

Ritsu looked at her quixotically as she struggled to finish her sentence. "Is something wrong?"

"I…" She stopped there and nearly tackled Ritsu into a tight, squeezing hug. Mugi kissed her on the cheek with a loud, cute smooching noise before saying, "Thank you Ricchan. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. For all I know you could have just saved my life tonight."

"Heh heh, don't mention it." Ritsu blushed bright red as Mugi let go of her. She touched her cheek where Mugi's soft lips had kissed her. The sensation was still there, and it made her feel kind of giddy. She had to tell herself the kiss had been, of course, platonic. Trying to read deeper into it just because her friend was gay was unfair and insensitive.

Ayumu left the door to the spare bedroom open and she slipped into her own dark room and closed the door. From behind the closed door she called out, "Gimme a moment, I'm changing out of my clothes."

That made Ritsu realize something. "Wait, Mugi, we didn't think this over. Our clothes are filthy."

"Hmm, this is a problem." Mugi nodded.

The house was small, and their hostess was able to hear of their plight. She returned from her room, whose light never turned on, without any pants and a new, longer shirt than before. This time it was a band shirt for the group _Alice in Chains_ which was miles better than her old one. Seattle grunge just had a much friendlier vibe than Greek black metal. Strangely enough, Ritsu could see that Ayumu used lotion on her legs, judging by how smooth her white flesh was. Yet her fashion sense and care to her outward appearance beyond that was minimal.

"I got some bathrobes you two can throw on while I run your clothes through the wash." She offered them.

"Wow, that sounds great, thanks!" Mugi exclaimed.

"Yeah, thanks. You're really helping us out here." Ritsu also thanked their hostess.

"Hey, don't mention. It's cool I can share my fucking research with some people finally." She was already heading off to go find those bathrobes. "Like I said, my bath is pretty big. You two okay bathing together, or does seeing another girl naked make you run screaming?"

"Is that okay with you…? Ricchan?" Mugi asked, blushing slightly. Ritsu couldn't see it, but Ayumu could, Mugi looked strangely hopeful.

"Yeah, of course. We took a bath together at my place, remember?" Ritsu answered.

"Okay, you two get all soapy, wet, steamy, and naked, and I'll make us something to eat." The black hair girl winked in their direction. Ritsu bit her lower, and was slightly embarrassed at that. Mugi didn't seem to mind. The drummer noticed this and did her best not to associate that with Mugi's sexuality. She had to remind herself that just because Mugi liked girls, it didn't mean she liked her too. From what Ritsu could tell from what Mugi said, the blonde seemed to be into girls who had a traditional sort of beauty. Himeko was a perfect example of this. Ritsu was a lean and mean tomboy; pretty much on the complete other end of the spectrum. Part of her was sort of relieved that Mugi probably had absolutely no attraction to her, because it meant their friendship wouldn't ever become awkward. At the same time, she kind of wished Mugi did find her attractive just for the pure gratification of being noticed like that.

Ritsu decided it was better just to not think about that stuff at all.

Ayumu left them two robes folded up on a shelf in the bathroom near the door. Both of which were unsurprisingly black. The two other girls stripped down to their underwear and their hostess took their clothes to wash; just before giving the near naked Mugi a creepy, predatory look. Mugi shivered a bit at it, and tried to just to equate it to Ayumu being more or less socially inept. She probably didn't even realize that the way she looked at her was even inappropriate.

Her comment on the home previously being a hostel made a bit of sense with the size of the bathroom. It was easily the largest room in the house, laid out much like a traditional public bath. Looking around, Ritsu couldn't help but wonder if this whole place hadn't just been an old sento converted into a full blown home. There was more than enough room for five people to bathe there with the single large bath. Her theory was supported further when she saw the shelves near the door leading in. They looked like they had replaced where a bandai once stood.

Once naked, and hair band gone, Ritsu went to start the bath. She turned the faucet for the hot water, but nothing happened; same with the cold water. With a heavy sigh, she walked over to the door and called, "Heeey, Yumi-chan, I can't get any water in here!"

After a couple seconds, the hostess replied, "Oh, yeah, shit, sorry about that! Uh, the plumbing over there is kinda fucked since the boiler on the other side of the wall kind of exploded!"

"It exploded?" Ritsu didn't believe this.

"Yeah!" Ayumu shouted back. "Uh, over on the shelves are some washbowls you can use. The fucking shower faucets still work, but no hot water since you know, the fucking boiler exploded!"

"Okay, thanks!" Ritsu called out, and turned to face the shelves. Sure enough, there were five or six washbowls stacked on the shelf beneath the one with the robes. She grabbed two and handed one to her naked pal.

"Wow, I haven't used one of these in years!" Mugi happily exclaimed. "This is so exciting."

"Eh, where are you from again?" Ritsu muttered under her breath, and also grabbed two wash towels that were near the robes as well. She had really looked forward to taking a nice hot bath instead of scrubbing herself with a cold, wet towel, but she decided she could manage.

"I think we should ask Yumi-chan if she has a first aid kit." Mugi said to Ritsu, her voice laden with concern.

Ritsu looked down at all the cuts on her legs and arms and shook her head. "Nah, they're pretty light and barely bled at all. I should be fine after washing up."

"I'm sorry you got hurt coming to get me." Mugi whispered as she went to draw water from the shower for her washtub. "I really don't know what came over me; I really don't know. It was just like this urge or calling that I had to-"

"Shh." Ritsu cut her off from beside her. "You don't need to apologize, Mugi. I know it wasn't your fault. I'd risk my behind to save you any day of the week, because that's what friends do. These cuts I got here? They stung at first but I can't feel them at all now. Don't worry about them, and just be glad we're both safe now."

"You're so sweet Ricchan." Mugi blushed. "I won't say sorry, but I will thank you again. It makes me scared to think of what could have happened if you didn't show up when you did. If… if there's anything I can do to really say thank you, let me know, okay?"

"Yeah, of course." Ritsu nodded, and then placed a finger on her chin. "Hmm… there is that new CD I've been wanting for a while now; but I can get that myself no problem. Wait, I know, there's that game that came out last year… and I could use a good pair of Iron Cobras since I'm trying to build up double bass endurance. Not that I plan to join a band that really needs that, I just want to be the most versatile drummer I can. Plus, doing _Judas Priest _covers for YouTube is always fun. Anyway, I'm trying to put together a really cool acoustic kit, name brand stuff across the board!"

"I could easily buy the whole thing for you!" Mugi happily offered with a smile on her face. "We can drive on down the music store that has it, or order it online with my debit card. Daddy gives me plenty of money, so it wouldn't be a problem."

"Oh, no-no-no-no-no, I couldn't make you pay for that." Ritsu said with a guilty wave of her arms. "The price online for this stuff was in USD, and it was close to three-thousand, which is nearly a month's salary for me in yen. I was just kind of kidding. How about instead of that, you have to treat me to dinner at a nice place… and then a movie!"

"Done and done." The keyboardist looked so happy she could burst. "I know a bunch of really nice places, places my parents would have company dinners at. I could rent the whole restaurant so it's just us!"

"You don't have to do that, really." Ritsu chuckled. "Let's just have a nice little dinner as friends and see what's playing. Please don't spend too much on me."

"How much is too much?"

"If the amount of money you spend on me could also be used to buy a new LCD TV, it's too much." Ritsu answered.

"But that's hardly any at all!" Mugi gasped.

"Different people have different ideas of what's considered a lot of money. If you spent a lot of money on me, I'd feel bad, so I'll tell you what's too much, alright?"

"Alright!"

With that the two of them went to bathing in the ice cold water they were forced to work with. It was starting to get late, but the oxymoron burn of the ice was enough to keep the two of them wide awake. Ritsu was shivering as she scrubbed the blood, sweat, and dirt off her body. She shivered and her teeth rattled like the double bass of an _Amon Amarth_ song. As she finished rinsing the shampoo from her hair, Ritsu couldn't help but comment, "I can't imagine people having to take baths like this back before hot water was the norm."

"I'm sure they warmed water up in other ways. We're just kind of unlucky right now." Mugi was much more adept at hiding how cold she was. Over the last ten minute, she had been covertly sneaking peaks at Ritsu's naked body, silently admiring how slender and fit she was. There was a bit of jealousy in her too, since all she had done after high school was gain weight. She was by no means fat, but was long past the point where she could be considered slim. Mugi mustered up the courage to throw Ritsu a compliment over her body. "Wow Ricchan, you look really great, your body I mean."

'_Great, she's going to equate that statement with my sexuality. I really could have said that better…' _The blonde mentally cringed.

"Oh, you think so?" Ritsu was pleasantly surprised at the compliment.

"Yes, you look so fit and strong!" Mugi swooned.

The drummer smiled, and couldn't help but flex the slender muscles of her abdomen and arms. She had the body of a swimmer, skinny, lean, and tight; the kind that would look great in a swimsuit even if she lacked the curves that Mio and Mugi both had. "I'm glad you noticed! With drumming and the physical portions of the police academy, I _have_ to be in shape."

"Was the police academy hard?" The blonde conversationally asked, and began rubbing her hand against Ritsu's flexed right arm. It was so smooth and strong, and it made her want to just rest her head against it.

"At… times…" Ritsu was a bit surprised by her gesture. "All the stuff they made me remember was tricky, and there's a seminar where you have to take a taser and pepper spray to the face. I can't understand how some officers can be so liberal with that stuff. Pepper spray is like Hell in a can, and being tased hurts so bad you just kind of fall to the ground."

"That sounds awful!" Mugi exclaimed.

Ritsu shrugged. "Yeah, it was, but I kind of see why they made us do it. I'm a lot less inclined to just start spraying this stuff at people now that I know how bad it hurts."

Their conversation tapered off into just catching up with each other's lives. Mugi was happy to hear about Ritsu's stories about becoming a policewoman as they dried off together. There wasn't much to say about her own life at the university. She didn't want to tell Ritsu how she had few friends, who she rarely spoke to outside of classes or labs. She didn't want to trouble Ritsu with her loneliness, and go on about how much she missed her and Mio. Even under these strange and chilling circumstances, Mugi felt strangely happier than she had been in a long time. Whatever they were facing, it was worth the risk as long as she could be with her best friend.

Clad in undergarments and dark bathrobes, the two of them rejoined their hostess in the main room. Ayumu had prepared a meal of microwaved take-out food, Chinese stuff, most of it still cold in the middle. Even if the taste and texture was enough to trigger Ritsu's gag reflex, she was too hungry to object to the meal. Mugi, on the other hand, didn't seem to dislike it in the slightest. She had never eaten anything quite so exotic, and it was all a very exciting ordeal.

"The stuff all over the place here, shit's not really important." Ayumu loosely pointed towards the stacks of papers and the like surrounding them. In her other hands were chopsticks which she didn't seem to be all that proficient went. Both Mugi and Ritsu found that a bit strange. "Out back, against the house, there's stairs leading down to the basement. Down there is where the stuff you fucking want is."

"I have to go down into… your basement?" Ritsu frowned, making her unhappiness towards that idea known.

"I've had like, four break-ins in the last year, I'm not keeping my shit where people can find it." The black haired girl told her. "Little shits don't check out the basement, because they probably think nothing's in there. Calm down, it's not some creepy ass sex dungeon that I'm going to lock you in forever. Here, I'll let you hold onto my car keys while you're down there."

"Why would I want your car keys?"

"As collateral." She answered. "And if you really feel that bad about going down there, just find what you need and haul it back up here."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." Ritsu decided.

"Cool, cool." Ayumu nodded twice. "I got the two futons out in the guest room, so whenever you want to fucking crash, go ahead. I'm about to go fall asleep actually. The key to the stairs is on my key ring with the car keys. It's the biggest one. Oh yeah, and if you make off with my car or something like that, I'll fucking kill you. I know people, okay?"

"You realize I'm a policewoman, right?" Ritsu scowled. "Making death threats at me isn't exactly the smartest thing you could be doing, even if you're just kidding around." She paused and sighed. "Then again, you are kind of helping us both out a lot here. You sort of have the right to make creepy offensive jokes since this is your house and all."

"I'm glad we both fucking understand this." Their hostess stood up and stretched. "Bleh, I'm more tired than I thought. I'm gonna go watch a movie or something on my laptop then crash. 'Night you two."

"Good night." Ritsu waved her off.

"Sleep well, Yumi-chan!" Mugi gave her a pleasant smile.

Ayumu smiled back at the blonde, winking at her. "You too, sweetheart."

Ritsu ignored the obvious flirting and realized there was still a table full of fast food containers. There were plenty more laying around the house, so Ritsu just decided to leave what was left of dinner on the table. She couldn't even find where the garbage was supposed to anyway. It was completely beyond her how anyone could live this way. Mugi viewed Ayumu's home the same way she viewed their dinner. It was very interesting and exciting, but just a little too smelly…

"Are you going to go down into the basement?" Mugi asked the drummer as soon as they were alone. Her voice was quiet, a whisper, but she didn't really have a reason for keeping quiet.

Ritsu nodded. "Yeah, I'm a bit sleepy, but I want to check this stuff out while it's still fresh on my mind. Gonna come down there with me?"

"No, I think I'll make you some tea then go to bed." She answered.

"Oh, that's nice of you, thanks."

"No problem. Try not to stay up too late, okay?"

"Got it."

Outside it had begun raining again, but Ritsu was able to find Ayumu's dryer and retrieve her now warm clothes. Clad in warm, clean grab, she grabbed her leather jacket and went around back. Two slanted doors guarded by a padlock marked the entrance below. Fumbling a bit with the keys, Ritsu found the right one to bypass the lock and greeted by steep concrete stairs descending into blackness. She left the doors open and stepped down, one step at a time. There was a sense of dread building up inside her, one she couldn't quite explain. She felt like walking down those stairs was crossing some kind of threshold, a threshold she wouldn't be able to go back from. That was wrong though, she decided, because she had already crossed that threshold when she stepped into the woods earlier that evening. Had it really only been earlier that night? I felt like eons ago. Still, she had stepped past something and she couldn't ever return. The world, as her and Mugi knew it, didn't work the way they thought. There were things beyond what normal people saw. Black and sinister things that made Ritsu wonder how much of traditional Japanese folklore was based on truth. It made her wonder how many stories of monsters in the closet were real. Her perception on what was truth and what wasn't was now forever warped, for better or worse.

Stepping down to the last stair, she felt around for a light switch and found one. With a quick flick, she turned it on and brought light to the dark, barren chamber that Ayumu used to house her secretive research. Lit dimly by a single bulb, the basement was little more than a few card tables with neat stacks of papers and boxes beneath them. There were a few gardening tools lying around, but none of them looked to have seen use in years, or even possibly decades.

Ritsu took a deep breath and wondered if this was worth doing that night. A big part of her wanted to just go lay down upstairs next to Mugi and sleep all of this away. She couldn't though, she knew she had to do this while it was fresh on her mind; or at least start.

All of a sudden she felt extremely alone down there, like she had felt when she was in the woods. With the sounds of the rain outside and the cool spring chill pouring down at her back, she felt like she had never left the shadows of those tall, corpselike trees. It was a sense of loneliness that made her want to just ball up and cry, and she couldn't understand why she felt that way. Ritsu had to suck it up and be brave though, and push past this unknown and unwarranted fear.

She was in luck though; the stuff she started with was immediately relevant. The drummer sat back on an uncomfortable folding chair and began reading through everything she could. Ayumu had left sticky notes cataloguing and organizing stuff, which made it so much easier for Ritsu. She sat there for hours and hours, completely engrossed in the material. She wondered how much this stuff would be worth to scientists, historians, or a university. It seemed to document the region's history in a way nothing else ever had.

The first big thing she learned was that Ayumu was incorrect about the Japanese government torching that town. The government had taken responsibility for the fire that destroyed the village, but hadn't caused it. The fire had been started by a local who authorities speculated had been stockpiling gasoline for some time to help spread the fire. With how fast the conflagration had occurred, and how quickly the town had been reduced to ash, there had to have been some kind of planning and set up. The theory was that some arsonist had spread gas all around in the middle of the night and lit the place up in the morning.

That was what made the frightening occurrences and crimes related to this small, unnamed village even more chilling. The fire had resulted in a full blown massacre, with all but a few of the one-hundred and fifty residents being killed. Despite this, the problems that plagued the neighboring communities, the ones that had been blamed on the burnt village, hadn't stopped. People winding up dead through suicide, in such a way that commonly looked like murder, continued in that part of the woods and haven't ever stopped. Azusa, and those others, were all part of a long, unexplained line. Up until the late 80's, older authorities were convinced that these were not suicides, despite what any evidence suggested. They believed that these were murders committed by a secretive cult with roots in traditional Satanism as found medieval Europe around the time of the crusades and the height of the Templar's power. Eventually these members of the local authorities all retired or left the police force in some other way, and these theories disappeared with them.

This idea that the old villagers had been members of a satanic cult was supported by evidence found amongst the wreckage and ruins of the village. Several basements where cult practices occurred had survived the fire and were raided by the police of neighboring towns. They found evidence supporting human sacrifice, child rape, cannibalism, bloodletting, cattle mutilation, and a plethora of other unspeakable things. There were written documents too, detailing on how unholy rituals should be carried out. None of these survived though as the Japanese government had them burned to keep this whole thing quiet.

Amongst those documents were Latin verses that baffled police at the time.

_In nonime satani..._

_ In donime satani.._

_ Maleus satani..._

_ Ave satani..._

These were clearly satanic verses, which had absolutely no place among this village. The rest of the documents suggested that the cultists followed local, pagan gods that were unique to them. The Bible was presumably unknown to these people, and the ideas of God or Lucifer should have been alien, Latin as well. Other investigators suggested that these were not in fact verses to Satan, being that the Latin word _Satana _translated into 'foe'. This meant that these could have just been hymns to their pagan gods who opposed traditional religious figures both eastern and western.

The pagan deities the cultists followed and committed atrocities in the name of seemed to all follow a variation of a single theme. The theme was pure suffering, and making others suffer in their name. The followers apparently believed by making other people suffer; they would achieve access to a sort of higher existence. This higher existence, which mirrored Heaven, Nirvana, and multiple other religions' versions of paradise; was mentioned many times in the destroyed documents. This paradise was supposed to be a world of dreams where nearly anything was possible. The world of dreams was said to span over countless other parallel universes, and there one could meet their alternate self if they knew how to do so. The only way to access this 'paradise' of the mind was through death, and this lead to more than a few suicides.

Upon reading this part, Ritsu could only wonder if all the suicides in the woods were because the victims wanted access to this paradise. She dismissed that thought though, because it somehow implied that Azusa was a cultist. That idea was both absurd and insulting.

The one thing that separated this dream world paradise away from other religious variations was that it wasn't completely perfect. It was expressly stated that people _could_ die again there. What happened after that was a mystery though. If the person entering this dream world was ignorant to what it was like, they would surely meet their death or become an eternal slave to the chief deity known simply as the Entity of Suffering.

The other name for the Entity of Suffering was the _Forest's Keeper_.

_"In the eyes of the forest's keeper, you've died a thousand times_."

_The world of dreams was said to span over countless other parallel universes, and there one could meet their alternate self if they knew how to do so…_

Ritsu's hands began to shake, and suddenly she didn't want any part in this. She wanted to go home to her apartment and do enough drugs or something to just forget this all. She didn't want to piece together this puzzle, she just wanted to sweep all the pieces under the rug and forget about them. Her mind worked against her though, formulating theories as to what everything she learned meant. She wondered if this Entity of Suffering was the one who controlled the forest. She wondered if it was the one making people commit suicide, by making them suffer so much that they couldn't bear living any longer. If that were the case, she wanted to give it a swift punch to the nose for what it made Azusa do. If punching a god was too much, then she'd find some other way to get even.

"His time is coming." A hissing, female voice Ritsu didn't recognize said from the darkness behind her. Her heart nearly exploded out of her chest from surprise. She tried to look behind her, to see who had said this, but found she couldn't move. Blackness was slowly covering the lit parts of the room, like a strange kind of liquid darkness. The voice spoke again, this time to the left of her, still out of sight. "This time he'll come back and be bigger than ever."

"Who… who are you?" Ritsu's voice came out meek and strained from terror. She had to bite down afterwards to keep from screaming at the voice whispered in her right ear.

"I'm nobody." The stranger's breath was ice cold on Ritsu's ear. She moved again, completely silent, and spoke from behind. "I'm just a simple person who thinks it's funny how all six of you somehow managed to get involved in this."

"S-Six?" Ritsu squeaked.

She spoke again from the left, "The three Hirasawa sisters, the black haired Nakano girl, you and the absolutely lovely vessel, Kotobuki Tsumugi."

_Three Hirasawa sisters? What is she talking about, Ui and Yui were the only ones. And why is Mugi a vessel? What does that mean!_

The creeping darkness of the room was now crawling over Ritsu, slowly enveloping her from all sides. It was painfully cold, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't get away from it. Tears were spilling down her cheeks and she was worried her bladder was going to explode on top of all of this. Was this happening because she knew too much? If so, why was Ayumu still alive?

The girl talking to her finally appeared in front of her, sort of. In the darkness, Ritsu could see two blue eyes staring at her. Beyond that, she could barely make out pale, gray naked skin that looked absolutely dead. Even with how dark it was, Ritsu could tell this girl was dead. She lost her control, and finally screamed. Her open mouth invited in that crawling blackness, and her cry in the dark was silenced by cold molten darkness.

Everything went black.


	5. Anxiety

**ALL THERE WAS **

**PART FIVE**

**ANXIETY**

"_Aghhh!_" _She managed to scream before the blackness covered her mouth._

Ritsu awoke, panicking, struggling to catch her breath and felt herself free falling on her back. The sensation of falling lasted only a second, ended by her back hitting against concrete painfully. Her leg was propped up on something hard, and it took her a moment to realize it was the metal chair. Her panic died down to a low drone of simple internal terror as she realized she had just fallen out of the chair she had been sitting in. It had just been a dream. Just the scariest nightmare she had ever had. The ground around her was noticeably wet for some reason. As she managed to get to her feet, she saw that the rain outside had turned into a full blown thunder storm. Lightning crashed in the distance, lighting everything white for less than a second. The rain was pouring down the stairs now.

She checked her cell phone and saw it was just past four AM. It was time to close this place up and go to bed. Ritsu hurriedly put the papers back where she thought they belonged, and couldn't stop shaking as she did so. Every little last noise down there nearly made her jump from her skin. She kept expecting the shadows to expand and swallow her like they had done in her dream. They didn't though, since it had just been a dream and nothing more. Just a dream. Just a dream.

It wasn't worth the effort to lock up the basement in the rain, so Ritsu just slammed the two doors shut and made a sprint around the house for the front door. In a flash of lightning, she saw part of the outside wall of the house was damaged just a bit, exposing what was probably the boiler room. She kept moving, and felt a strange urge to just glance behind her. Just to make sure nothing was following, of course. Why would anything be following her? She didn't know, but it was better to be safe than sorry. In the pouring rain, she only saw shadows, some of which that looked vaguely human shaped in the foot hills. She looked back forward and convinced herself she was just imagining things.

Soaked in rain, Ritsu stepped through the front door and locked it behind her. She tossed Ayumu's keys onto the table where they had eaten. Someone had turned off all the light, leaving the house in near total darkness. Ritsu struggled to navigate her way to the guest bedroom through a house that now seemed impossibly large. Her head was swimming from what she had read, and the nightmares that had plagued her short nap. It made just walking to that guest bedroom a suffering ordeal. She nearly tripped over her feet several times as she clung to the wall. Why was walking so hard all of a sudden? Why was the ceiling so high? Why couldn't her eye adjust to the darkness? Her head was pounding as she tried to make sense of what didn't seem real.

Eventually, after what felt like a struggling eternity, Ritsu found her way into the room Mugi was sleeping in. The whole trip from the basement there had only taken forty-five seconds, but it felt infinitely longer. Lightning flashed through the two large windows on the far side of the room, and it provided Ritsu just the amount of light she needed to figure out where was going. She saw the sleeping form that was Mugi laying on the ground on her futon.

The blonde sat up as Ritsu closed the door behind her, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Oh, Ricchan…you're here. What time is it?" She yawned.

"P-Past four; I fell asleep downstairs." Ritsu told her, and tossed her rain soaked leather jacket onto the floor next to her. She hadn't even remembered to take her shoes off, and had no doubt tracked dirt and mud all the way to the room there. Better late than never, she slid her shoes off and left them next to her jacket.

"Are you okay, Ricchan?" Mugi gently asked her.

"Yeah, just dandy." The drummer lied, and staggered for her futon. Her state of panic wasn't going away. She was still shaking, and her heart and head were still pounding like they had been back in the basement.

"Ricchan, you're shaking all over." Mugi placed a hand on Ritsu's forearm. 'What happened? Please, tell me."

"Bad dream." She answered, curtly. In the darkness, she was able to tell that Mugi was sleeping in her underwear, with her clothes stacked nearly next to the futon. Her eyes were finally adjusting to the dimness, and in the lack of light, Mugi looked undeniably beautiful; like an angel.

"I can't sleep because of those." The angel sighed. Ritsu couldn't help but wonder if it would be better not to tell her friend about everything she learned. Maybe it would be better just to keep her out of the loop in this. Ritsu certainly wished she had never gotten involved in any of this. Mugi took a deep breath and said, "My hands… they can't stop shaking either. I'm afraid that I'll start walking back to the woods again."

"Hey, I won't let that happen." Ritsu grabbed one of her trembling hands. "I'm not letting you out of my sight from now on, okay?"

"Okay." Mugi nodded, a little sheepishly. "I won't be a burden this way, will I?"

"You'd be more of one if I let anything happen to you." Ritsu told her, shaking her head slightly. She couldn't keep in her emotions any more then, and suddenly felt tears running down her face. "God damn it I'm so scared right now!" Her voice was something of a frustrated whisper.

"Ricchan…" Mugi gave a worried sigh, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "M-Maybe we s-should share a futon tonight? Things are less scary when you have someone to cuddle with."

_She wants me to… cuddle with her?_ Ritsu found herself blinking in the dark. Despite how inconsiderate she knew her thoughts were, she couldn't help but think this had to something to do with Mugi's preference to females. She told herself that this had nothing to do with her being gay, that it was strictly platonic, but that simple thought still remained. _What if Mugi likes me as more than a friend?_ It left her unsure how to react to her request. Maybe Mugi was right; maybe it would make them both feel better. Maybe she needed to think less of Mugi being gay, and more of her offering to be a teddy bear for the night. Ritsu found herself wanting a teddy bear, or just something to help drive away the shadows chasing her mind. Maybe sleeping with a friend was the way to go. When she was little, she slept in her parents bed after nightmares on more than one occasion, so how was this any different?

She found herself giving in, and sighed. "Alright, make room."

Mugi did so, and happily went to scoot her batoot so Ritsu could lay on down next to her. Ritsu slid in next to her, a little nervously, and still in her clothes. Those clothes, even if wet, were there as a symbolic gesture that this was, believe it or not, completely platonic between them. Sleeping in tight blue jeans –the ones that hugged her hips so well- was uncomfortable, especially on a futon, but it beat sleeping in her panties by a long shot. To help make things a teeny bit more comfortable, she removed her bra from under her shirt and tossed it near her leather jacket. All she could do now was pray that Ayumu didn't walk in and find it humorous to crack some joke about the two of them like this. In her own defense, Ritsu could see how it was hard _not to_ the way they were.

And Miss Kotobuki was certainly not helping as she squeezed Ritsu into a tight, hugging embrace. The drummer found her head smushed right between the softness of Mugi's two breasts. While about as awkward as it could have possibly gotten, she wasn't above admitting that there was a strong sense of comfort being so close to Mugi, and being held tight in her strong arms. When Mugi suggested the two of them share a futon, this wasn't what Ritsu had in mind. She was, though, significantly less afraid now. That was a massive comfort to her after everything that happened that night. Too much too quick, and this was certainly a welcome reprieve after that. And for a short while, Ritsu could fully understand the attraction Mugi had towards other girls. She herself was so soft and huggable, and the lyrics to that one Katie Perry song that saw substantial radio time rang true. It made Ritsu wonder if she'd ever kiss a girl just to try it. Probably, she thought, since she was of college age and all.

Her thoughts drifted from one strange subject to another as sleepy thoughts often do. They went from girls kissing girls to girls kissing pets to pets who get abandoned to children who get abandoned to the Chinese human traffic industry to the ban of alcohol sales in the US back in the 20's to…

Before long, she was sound asleep, peacefully resting against the warm body that belonged a certain blonde haired lesbian.

**THE NEXT DAY…**

_The Beatles _had a song with a rather happy vibe called _Here Comes the Sun_. As Ritsu stepped out of Ayumu's car and onto the sidewalk in front of her home, she wanted to just start singing it. The problem was that she didn't know the words beyond _Here comes the sun doo doo doo doo~_ and the melody of the guitar that came with it. The clouds were still high in the sky, black with unspent rain, but the sight of her house was quite a balm for sore eyes.

"Hey, take it easy you two. Don't go getting yourself fucking killed, 'kay?" Ayumu waved at the two of them as Mugi took her place next to Ritsu.

"Yeah…" Ritsu scratched the back of her head. "Uh, thanks again for everything."

"Like I said, no fucking problem. Now, I'll catch you two some other time. I got errands to run." Before Mugi could say her own goodbye, Sugiura drove off down the road, tires screeching near cinematically.

On the ride back that morning, Ritsu had brought up the subject on how Ayumu's facts about the woods and the village there had just been wrong. Ayumu had shrugged, laughed, and sheepishly admitted that she had only _partially_ read the stuff she had collected; very little of it actually. Needless to say, Ritsu was vocal in wondering just why this woman would collect valuable information and just leave it sitting in her basement. If this fascinated her so much, and she went through the effort of gathering it, wouldn't it make sense to actually read it? In this aspect, Ayumu admitted to being an otaku in some ways. She loved collecting these things, but didn't really have much interest in reading it. She wanted to experience it first hand and come up with theories on her own.

Ritsu wasn't sure if that was something a scientist would say, or if Ayumu was just weird. She was very inclined to believe the latter. Very inclined indeed.

But walking towards her door, Ritsu was frustrated at Ayumu for not knowing as much as she did. It wasn't fair. She was spared all the horrors that came with being knowledgeable, and that wasn't fair. Ayumu should have been in the same boat as them. _She_ should have been the one having debilitating nightmares, not Ritsu. _She_ should have been the one who was stuck in this whole mess, not Ritsu and Mugi. And despite the sense of honor and justice Ritsu had gained becoming a policewoman, she would have _gladly_ passed this burden onto a stranger's shoulders. Let them deal with it. She just wanted to go home, start her job, hang out with Mugi on the weekends or have lunch together during the weekdays. They could get together with Mio and jam sometime, maybe find another guitarist if possible. They could do that and just fucking _move on_.

But Ritsu _couldn't_ move on. She was so stuck on this whole thing that it made her head spin and her fingers tug at her short dusk colored hair in frustration. Even after all she learned, there were still pieces that needed to be uncovered. The next thing she needed to do was figure out what happened to Ui and Yui. She was now sure that they were essential to this mystery, somehow. They were integral parts that she had been leaving out. Yui's disappearance was directly involved with what happened to Azusa; which was some how related to Ui's absurdly grizzly death. How? Well, that was what Ritsu needed to figure out. Her knowledge on the paranormal aspect of this whole case was something that the investigators before her didn't have. She decided that tomorrow she would stroll on down to the police station and talk to the officers that had been involved with Ui's death, see what she could learn.

"Ah, there you two are!" Mrs. Tainaka happily greeted them at the door. "Did you two have fun…? Ritsu, you look so pale."

Ritsu felt a bit guilty at her mother's concern. She shrugged and forced a smile. "I uh… may have had a bit too much to drink. Hung over, you know?"

"Listening to her sing while drunk is funny." Mugi chirped in, playing along expertly.

"That's the only time you'll hear me sing _Journey_." Ritsu grumbled.

"Sounds like you two _did_ have fun." Her mother giggled. "Come on in though, I was just making breakfast. Ritsu, want to help me make enough for our lovely guest?"

"Sure. What're we making?"

"Something a bit unorthodox. How does bacon and eggs sound?"

"Sounds good to me." Ritsu smiled, genuinely smiled, and then glanced at her lovely guest. "What do you think Mugi?"

Mugi had tasted bacon, once. Its delicious salty, meaty texture had been a grand explosion of tastiness in her mouth. To her, it made all the sense in the world how people could just shove this stuff in their mouth like ravenous hogs, because it was just so yummy. She giggled slightly at her word choice in that metaphor, since bacon came from hogs. Why would hogs eat bacon? That was silly. Even if bacon was the meaty nectar of the gods (as Odin was depicted in ancient Scandinavian artwork as eating bacon in Valhalla next to Sif and Loki) it came with a heavy price. The amount of calories packed into those juicy little strips was absolutely astounding. Beyond that, bacon was extremely unhealthy and greasy, and was the equivalent of firebombing your pores. She had to think long and hard on whether not to indulge herself. A paranoid little voice in her mind said, _You know what, Mugi? Do it, just go ahead and stuff your face! Why? Because for all we know this whole thing with the woods could wind up with you dead. As your subconsciousness, I strongly advise you eat bacon one last time before you die since we're obviously not getting laid any time soon. Howszat sound?_

"I think I'll have just a _little_ bacon." Mugi used her thumb and forefinger to emphasize a _little_.

Being that breakfast foods never took long to cook, they had themselves a meal pretty quickly. Satoshi was getting ready for school, and eagerly helped himself to the portion of bacon that the rest of the girls didn't want (watching their figures and all). To the two younger ladies, this breakfast was a grand reprieve from the nightmarescape they had just walked out of. Home cooking, nothing could beat it. After their filling meal, Ritsu decided that this day needed to be devoted towards relaxation and little else. Heck, she was pretty much a hero after potentially saving Mugi, so she deserved a bit of time off.

Before this day of kickin' it could officially begin, she had to make a few phone calls. But _before_ that, she pitched this idea of doing nothing to Mugi. The blonde expanded on this idea, suggesting maybe the three of them go out and do something together. Maybe they could go shopping or something similar. Ritsu was able to get on board with that idea, and Mrs. Tainaka was only happy to be included.

Ritsu needed to call up the local police station and schedule some sort of time where she could meet with an officer about this case. She wondered if she should lie and say this was part of a case she was working on in Tokyo, but decided against it. It was better to just tell the truth and say that her friend was dead and she was interested in knowing more. She called up the station, was put on hold, transferred, put on hold again, transferred twice and was finally able to get a hold of Officer Wang, one of the dispatch officers who had dealt with Ui's murder.

When Ritsu finally got a hold of him, she politely asked, "Hello, is this Wang-san?"

"This is." He answered. His voice hardly betrayed his age, and Ritsu guessed over the phone that he was about as old as her. "I've been told you're calling about the case around Hirasawa Ui?"

"Yeah." Ritsu found herself nodding, even if she was standing alone in her room. "I'm an officer-to-be from Tokyo, and Ui was a friend of mine of high school. I just got back in town and heard what happened, and I can barely believe it."

"That's understandable. I was there and _I _hardly believe it."

"Well, that's the thing; I kinda want to know a bit more about it. She was my friend after all, and all I know is the hearsay from other friends. I was wondering if we could schedule a time where we could meet up over coffee or something and talk about this. I'm buying, if this is alright with you."

He thought for a moment, and then replied, "Well, your offer of free coffee is a tough one. Know what, throw in some pastries with that and we'll work something out. I'm free at lunch all week."

"That's great!" Ritsu exclaimed. "How's tomorrow at noon?"

"Tomorrow is open."

"Do you know where that espresso place that the Ikari family runs is?" Ritsu asked him.

"Yeah, I've stopped in there before? It's the place with the flowers on the front downtown, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, we'll meet there."

"Alright, thanks sir! This really means a lot to me."

"Hey, I'm the one getting a free meal out of it, I should be thanking you. Well, I'll see you then."

"Alright, see you."

Well, that had gone along just fine. Tomorrow around noon for coffee, donuts, and some answers to questions that desperately needed them. Waiting until tomorrow worked just fine for our hairbanded heroine. In fact, it was absolutely fantastic for her. A full day of doing nothing with a blonde haired buddy, just kickin' back watching movies, shopping, maybe listening to some music. Ritsu also needed a bath, a proper one, too. They had that movie to watch still, _Tonari no Totoro_, which was still light and fluffy, like Mugi. Yes, this would be a wonderful day of relaxation and rest.

But why wasn't she feeling relaxed? She was out of the woods, was enlightened, and had a whole day of nothing ahead of her. This was the kind of thing she would have loved in high school. No homework, tests looming around the cornet, or worries.

What? No worries?

Of course she had worries, she had so many worries she had trouble holding them all in both hands. These worries were just crushing her down into the ground with their weight. She was worried that Mugi would wonder off again. She was worried she'd have a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. She was worried she'd wander off on her own, unable to control her actions. She was worried that this Entity of Suffering was real and aware of her. She was worried that her family may get involved in this. She was worried that they would notice how worried she was, and how she couldn't stop shaking.

Her worry ruined that day. It seemed like Mugi was able to push past this dread and enjoy herself, or was just a very good actor. Ritsu hoped it was the latter almost, just so she had someone to relate with. Who was she kidding? She and Mugi could relate to each other completely in the situation. They just weren't taking about it. That was it; Ritsu knew that was exactly what was going on. She refused to let herself doubt that.

She watched that movie, and its lightheartedness and nostalgia helped ease a bit of the emotional burden that was pressing down on her shoulders. She watched it with Mugi, who leaned against her for the duration of the movie, bold in her affection towards her friend. It made Ritsu wonder again if Mugi did feel some sort of attraction to her. She didn't look at all like Himeko, or seem to fit the description of the girls that Mugi seemed to like. This was incredibly unfair, she thought, to keep thinking about Mugi this way. All through high school Yui had pulled this with _everyone_ she came in contact with. Ritsu hadn't even thought twice about it.

_What if Yui was gay too though?_

Ritsu felt her heart stop at that thought. That explained a lot of things if it were true. She didn't think about it, it was too exhausting, and she was trying to focus on this movie. Focusing on that movie just made her focus on Mugi's head on her shoulder, and her hand resting on her though. She seemed so happy there, and it made Ritsu jealous that she was able to be so detached from everything that had happened. Maybe she was just a good actor, but Ritsu wasn't inclined to believe that. Her mind drifted to the subject of whether or not Mugi held a romantic interested in her. She wondered if there was any way to know for sure that would be subtle. Mugi wasn't stupid, and she wasn't _completely_ oblivious, so she'd probably catch onto what Ritsu was trying to figure out. That could lead to a bad scenario where she thought Ritsu liked her too. That was not something Ritsu wanted Mugi to think. That would be disastrous towards the blonde's feelings.

Through the movie and through dinner later that night she wondered and wondered and wondered about Mugi and about that village that didn't exist any longer. Why were they involved in this, and how would it relate to Ui tomorrow? Better question, would it even relate? Ritsu knew it would, because it all seemed to start with Ui and Yui, leading to Azusa, and now leading to them. Would Mio get dragged into this somehow too? Ritsu hoped not. Mio wouldn't be able to handle this, she knew that for certain.

There was so little conversation between her and Mugi through the rest of that day, and Ritsu's mother had picked up on it. They told her their quietness was attributed to little sleep that last night, which was partially true. The two girls found themselves getting ready for bed just after eight and heading off into dreamless sleeps that were welcome reprieves from the terrors of the previous night. At least for Ritsu.

As the drummer drifted off to sleep on the floor against the futon, letting Mugi's breathing nearby be her lullaby, she found herself thankful for how dull that day had been.

**AT LUNCH…**

_Just a matter of time…_ Ritsu thought to herself as she waited for the officer to arrive. She sat a small table with a cappuccino resting there in front of her. It was a grande sized one, which she had ordered without even really thinking about it. She had gone to sweeten it and saw they had honey there. She realized how similar this was to a certain manga and was half tempted to fill it to the brim with honey then trip on her way back. That would only be funny if the cashier had read the manga, which he probably hadn't.

She was in high spirits, because it had been a good morning. She had woken up after Mugi, and found the blonde singing to herself in the shower. Ritsu stood outside the door and listened to her happily sing love songs Mio had written to her unknown audience of one. Soon Ritsu began singing along as well, struggling to remember the words, but having a lot of fun. Her mother couldn't help but smile when passing her in the hall and listening to the two of them. Satoshi was probably drowning them out with music through headphones. That little instance had left Ritsu feeling bright and cheerful the rest of the day.

And into the small, local café walked a tall (not just tall compared to the Japanese) man in a police uniform. He wore no hat, exposing his neat buzz cut. The lines on his face showed that he was not far off from middle age, and far past his prime. They also gave him a look of weathered strength, and probably told people causing trouble that this was not a man they wanted to fuck with. Ritsu found him handsome in some kind of strange fatherly way, or at least pleasant to look at. She waved him over to the small table there. Honestly, Ritsu had pictured him as being much younger over the phone. His rank was clearly visible, a lieutenant.

"You're Tainaka-san?" He asked. His voice was smooth and soft, making him sound at least half his age.

"Wang-keibuho, I presume?" She outstretched her hand, and he shook it. "Pleased to meet you, sir. I'm actually going to be part of the Tokyo police force in a few weeks. Passed the academy and everything."

"Ah, being a cop in the big city." He said to himself as he sat down across from her. "Sounds exciting, but I'd take being a small town officer over that kind of thing any day. Besides a few messy instances, this job's been good to me. More exciting than being in the army too."

"I'd imagine." Ritsu nodded, and stood up. "Here, I said I was going to pay for lunch. What do you want?"

"Tainaka-san, I am a simple man. Black coffee and four donuts, any kind, surprise me."

"Alright, four donuts and a coffee. I'll be right back." She said, and went for the register there. As she crossed the small café, she couldn't help but think that that it was a bit ironic that _she _was paying. Chivalry was truly dead. Ritsu wondered what the girl behind the counter thought of the two of them together like that. Hopefully she thought they were father and daughter, or coworkers, as opposed to something creepy. Not thinking _too_ much about it, Ritsu made the purchase, and returned to the officer.

"Ah, many thanks Tainaka-junsa." He greeted her as she returned. Ritsu felt a bit odd hearing her soon-to-be rank attached to her name, being that the only variation of her name she was really used to was 'Ricchan'. She'd have to get use to it though, since that would be how people addressed her in her new job every day soon.

The senior officer sipped at his coffee and gave a satisfied sigh. "I've never liked all that cream and sugar stuff. Black, bitter coffee keeps you alert, and that's something important. Sure, I've never been attacked or anything like that while on duty, but that doesn't mean it'll never happen, right? Take a tip from someone who's been this business for awhile, always keep alert."

"Alright." Ritsu found herself nodding. This man appeared to be one of those older guys who took any opportunity to just talk and talk and talk about anything that came to mind. As long as he didn't forget why they had come there in the first place, Ritsu didn't mind it too much.

"Okay, so Hirasawa Ui… ah, where to begin." Wang looked upward briefly, thinking to himself. "I actually knew those two girls a little bit before I got called over there that day."

"You did?" Ritsu raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, not personally, but it wasn't the first time I had seen them." He told her. "It was a couple years ago. I got a noise complaint from some old, out of touch man that lived on one side of them. He was bitching about some obnoxious music, and claimed this was happening all the time. I stopped at his place to get a few more details before I marched on over there. It was summer, and it was hot and humid out. Just standing outside his door, listening to him complain about young kids having no respect and being too loud and all that, I was sweating to death. Even without the bulletproof vest, and all that, it was one of the warmest evenings of that summer. And yeah, I could hear the faint noise of music coming from those girls' house. One of them was playing guitar it sounded like with the window open. When I say faint, I mean_ faint_, the cicadas were much louder than she was. Well, I'm an officer of the law so I was obliged to go over there and say something. I was just going to let this man's passive aggressive complaints be known, and tell them to keep it mind. The noise they were making was _well _within the legal decibel range. So, I go on over there and the younger one, Hirasawa Ui, was pretty surprised to see a police officer at her door. I told her that nobody was in trouble, and that I was just here to pass on a pretty unwarranted complaint. To my surprise, she invites me in for tea for a few minutes and I take her up on the offer. I meet the older sister, Hirasawa Yui, and she seems like a nice, level headed kid. Turns out she was in Sakuragaoka's light music club. The only reason I know about them is because my daughter went on about how great their performance was. She was a freshman and watched them play as seniors, and wanted to join herself, but was too nervous I guess. She should have gone for it, I think."

"Yeah, she should have." Ritsu found herself smiling. She wanted to point out her involvement in this story, and how she was the drummer, but she decided to keep quiet about it.

"Well, anyway, I tell them to keep the noise down a bit this late at night." He continued. "Or, at least play in an air-conditioned room so Hirasawa Yui doesn't have to play with the window open. I go on my way, and never deal with any complaints from them again. Sadly, I _did_ have to fill this minor demeanor on her criminal record, but I did state that the complaint was pretty unwarranted. I checked back on the record when Hirasawa Ui died, and was pretty relieved to see nothing was ever added to it. Wish I could say the same for my daughter, Mei. God, that girl is always getting into trouble…"

Ritsu mentally sighed, worried he was going to start rambling even more.

"That has nothing to do with this though, sorry." He said with a wave of his hand. "Well, it was a neighbor that called in about the murder. Their parents were away in the Netherlands or something like that, and the school had one of their neighbor's contact numbers listed in case they couldn't be reached from their home phone. Neither of them showed up for school, and I guess one of their friends was worried and tried calling them each. No answer from either cell phone or the home phone. So, they tell a teacher and then she gets a little worried and finds that neighbors number and calls that…"

Ritsu remembered this. It had been Azusa who called them each.

"…Their neighbor was this really kind elderly woman that took care of them on occasion, mostly when they were younger. It looked to me like these two were mostly on their own, much more than they should have been. I'm amazed they kept out of trouble so much, since most kids need their parents to keep them in line, you know? Well, she uses her spare key and goes in and… God, we had no idea what the fuck to expect…" His tone became much grimmer. "Nobody could understand what this lady was saying over the phone. She was distraught, so naturally me and my partner, Akira-junsa, along with two other guys get sent on over. My partner quit not long after this, and I wouldn't be surprised if this had everything to do with it. The two other guys try to calm her down while me and Akira-junsa go inside to investigate." Wang paused and took a deep breath. "Tainaka, ever watch horror movies?"

"S-Sometimes…" Ritsu wasn't sure if she wanted to hear what came next.

"Hollywood and movie murder scenes are nothing like the real thing…" Wang shook his head, his voice much quieter now. "We found Hirasawa Ui in the living room there, just… I don't know what would possess a person to do to her what they did. The green couch was just _covered_ in blood. Not just the couch, there was fucking blood all over the place. On the floor, the table, over the food she had set up for her and her sister, even on the some of the walls. It looked like some slit her throat first, but there weren't any signs of struggling on her part, or anywhere. Nothing was turned over; there was no sign of forced entry, or _any_ evidence leading to the killer. From what we all gathered, she had her throat cut with a razor blade, like the kind of you find in disposable razors, and then was slashed and stabbed all over with one of those knives you use to carve bread. We _did_ have a suspect though; one that we were pretty much positive was the killer. They left finger prints with her blood just about everywhere, _including_ the knife. There was trace evidence all over the place that incriminated them. We kept this information _out_ of any interviews, reports, and never even wrote it down. Know why?"

Ritsu was shaking all over now. Sweat was dripping down her forehead, and down the side of her body from her arm pits. Her eyes stung a bit, like, she was going to cry. She wouldn't cry in public though, that would be awful. She knew what he was going to say, and found herself nodding at his pseudo-question.

He leaned and whispered, his own voice shaking slightly. "It was her sister. Absolutely no doubt about it, all the evidence pointed to her. I mean, there was enough to probably convict her to a life sentence without her being able to mount _any_ sort of defense in court. But someone like that probably wouldn't be pleading guilty. Just like that one Norwegian guy, Varg something-or-other. It doesn't end here though, that's what scares _me_ the most. The older sister just disappeared, you probably know about that. She should have been _covered_ in her little sister's blood, making her an absolute beacon for us to follow. No, we never found any sign of her, and still haven't. Know what my theory is?"

"N-No." Ritsu answered. Saying that one word had been difficult. It had caught in her throat, trying to strangle her as she said it. She didn't want to know, but she said that choking word anyway.

"You're going to think this is crazy, but this whole thing is crazy." Wang slowly shook his head. "I think it has something to do with Minzoku-Shinto, you know, like the old stuff that's just fairy tales. This is coming from me, a man who's been a devout Catholic pretty much all his life. There are some things the good book or God just can't answer, and this is one of them. After the whole investigation ended and we all decided to move on, I took a trip to one of the local temples. I was still kind of shaken up because there was absolutely no closure or leads. It just seemed impossible, and honestly still does. I asked the priest there what he thought about this. I kept all the details to a minimum, and just kind of gave him the gist about what was worrying me. And, no surprise here, he goes on and says that if you include the supernatural, everything could be explained. Now, he didn't outright say that this _was_ the work of oni spirits or any of that non sense, but he sure as hell implied it. I still don't know what to think, but I lean towards kami and that kind of stuff."

He checked his watch and sighed. "I got to get going it looks like. Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"No, that's enough." Ritsu exhaled. Whatever Wang said after that, she didn't hear it. All she could do is stare at her half empty drink (she certainly wasn't optimistic enough to say it was half full). His story… she couldn't accept it, it had to be a lie. Yui _killing_ another person? Her sister even! That was nonsense, completely impossible. It was about as believable as Mugi shoving Satoshi.

_God damn it…_ She thought, with her fingers curling into fists that gripped the hem of her shirt. Tears were starting to form in her eyes, and she prayed the other one or two customers at the counter couldn't see her like this.

_Damn it… damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it. Why did I dig deeper? Why can't I just leave this all alone and go back to Tokyo with Mugi? This is stupid and I'm going to get myself killed…_

_ Or worse._

She stood up, nearly tripping and grabbed for her cappuccino. If it had been full, she would have spilled it. The drummer shuffled out the door, feeling like she was going to faint from what she had heard. She couldn't stop thinking about Yui in her head, and it just seemed impossible. No, it didn't _seem_ impossible, it _was_ impossible.

_"Ricchan, steamed towel, please…" Yui sheepishly asked her, still half asleep._

_ "I don't have that kinda stuff…_" _Ritsu couldn't believe she had to tell her this.  
>"Boo~ Ui would always have one." Yui pouted as she searched around for her clothes.<em>

Yeah. Yeah, Yui was definitely sounded like the fucking killer here. Ritsu remembered the murderous rage in her eyes perfectly. It was amazing they didn't have a god damned second Columbine on their hands with her around. That song she wrote, _U&I_, the vicious, murderous subtext there was just overwhelming.

"_Simply being by my side you've always given me the courage_

_I wanna be with you forever and a day_

_I wanna tell you that this is how I feel"_

How could those lyrics, that were Yui's honest feelings, be about anything other than wanting to stab her sister a hundred times like some kind of deranged psychopath. Yep, chief, this was definitely our killer here, no fucking doubt about right? _Right?_

Now Ritsu felt angry that such an absurd accusation could be made towards her friend. She told herself it was impossible again. Then again, a lot of things had been impossible in the last few days. There was more to this, and she needed to know. She wasn't going to lose sleep over this. Plus, maybe learning about what happened to those two would help her unravel the mystery behind Azusa's suicide and those other deaths. Her anger turned a gritty determination, laced with the confidence to move forward and figure this out.

The first thing she needed to do though was visit the scene of the crime.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

_**Quick Author's Note: **Wang is pronounced 'Whong', just so no neckbearded man children start making lewd jokes. _


	6. Shadows

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART SIX**

**SHADOWS**

Ritsu had no idea what she was expecting to find with this. Above her, the skies had turned black again and swallowed the sun. When she had left that early noon to go to the café, the forecast had said the skies would be clear for a few days. Just like when she first came home, they had lied once again. Rain wasn't just pattering down this time, but instead pouring down in soaking torrents. Ritsu still had her trusty leather jacket –the one Mugi admired so very much- and it at least kept her body dry while her hair and jeans were left soaked. Her cell phone was watertight as well, and she used that to send Mugi a text message informing her that she was just going out for a walk. She hadn't told Mugi about her meeting with the other officer and didn't plan to.

Mugi could live her whole life without knowing about any of this and be better off for it. She could just look back on that strange evening with Ayumu Sugiura and use it as a ghost story for her future girlfriends. For her, it didn't need to be anything more than this.

Ritsu, on the other hand, was going to see it through to the end. Hopefully it wouldn't kill her or… do other things. In all honesty she was absolutely terrified about becoming some kind of mindless thrall to this Entity of Suffering, or being trapped eternally in some kind of weird dream dimension. In other words, she was afraid of just disappearing like Yui had.

_"Yeah, I can totally see why _he_ chose you."_

And just what was that supposed to mean, Sugiura-san? The more Ritsu thought about what Ayumu had said, the more it worried her. She was thoroughly convinced that this woman was not a normal person. Something was terribly wrong with her, and for all Ritsu knew she wasn't even human. Despite this, she _had_ helped the two of them out there. Ritsu shuddered at the memories of being that haunted forest. She remembered so vividly just how _frustrated _the woods had felt around her, like they were so desperately trying to swallow the two of them but couldn't. The two of them had been like meat dangling in front of starved wolves.

Under the dark sky, soaked to the bone, Ritsu turned the corner of the empty suburbs and saw the old Hirasawa residence down the street. This place felt like Azusa's neighborhood had; bleak, dark, cold, empty, abandoned and most of all surreal. She shivered at the cold the rain was so eagerly providing her as she slowly walked down the sidewalk. There were no cars in driveways here either, although that could just be because it was the middle of a work day. She remembered this part of town being pretty green, but everything seemed so brown and yellow now. The trees hadn't grown back their leaves for some reason, and all the grass seemed sickly and malnourished despite the heavy rain. This place looked like a rainy wasteland.

Was she even in Japan anymore? Ritsu couldn't say for certain.

She felt horribly alone then, and wished Mugi was with her in this desolate neighborhood. She still had no idea what she was trying to do. Her goal was to spur something into happening, like somehow provoke the darkness around this town to do something. She wanted to learn from it and whatever it did. Hopefully she could learn about the truth around Ui and Yui. Step by step, she approached their old home, the scene of the crime. In the yard, there was a sign saying the place was for sale. The sign looked dilapidated, with the white on the poster board now a dull yellow. It was also slanted just a bit too, like it had fallen over and been shoved back into place more than once. Something told Ritsu this house would be up for sale for quite a long time.

Ritsu stepped across the lawn towards the front door, instantly regretting as water flooded her shoes. Beneath the long overgrown grass, the yard was like a hidden swamp. She stepped back decided to take the sidewalk like any normal person would do.

_What am I doing? The front door is probably going to be locked or even have an alarm on it. And just what AM I doing here? I need to turn around and go home._

But she couldn't just turn around and go home. It felt like something unnatural was pushing her forward. Ritsu was so sure there was something there in the old Hirasawa home, ghosts of the past maybe? I was like stepping into the threshold of the woods; it just seemed radiate with some sort of energy. Now all she had to do was put her hand on the doorknob and…

The sound of children giggling startled her terribly. Her heart raced as she spun around to see where it had come from. She expected to see two little girls playing in a nearby yard, but instead only saw the rain falling down on that empty street. She struggled to catch her breath from the sudden surprise and now really wished Mugi or Mio were there with her. Above that, she wished she knew what she was doing here. This was morbid and risky, but Ritsu couldn't bring herself to stop. It didn't matter though, since the door would be locked and there would be no way in, of course.

That wasn't the case, the front door was unlocked, had no alarm, and opened easily. Ritsu's heart skipped a beat as she was able to just simply walk in. It shouldn't have been like this, the door should have been locked tight. Taking a deep breath, the drummer stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Hopefully nobody had seen her essentially just break in there. What excuse could she possibly give to a police officer if someone called the cops on her for this? Something told her that wouldn't be a problem though, and that not a single soul in the world knew where she was. Her world at least, she couldn't be sure about any others where shadowy things hid. It was cold in that home, and there was a draft coming from seemingly nowhere. Ritsu shivered a little bit beneath her jacket, and then slid off her shoes. Her socks were soaked too, so she pulled them off and set them right next to where her shoes were. Dead or not, she still had to respect another person's home.

Barefoot now, she stepped onto the first stair, and placed her hand on the banister. It was covered it dust, and stained her hand a pale gray. She looked at her dirtied palm and let it fall to her side. Her dust stained hand was proof what they had was gone, that this wasn't some prolonged dream she would eventually wake from. Her dust stained hand was proof that some impossible force had taken all there was between them. She sighed and walked up the stairs, hoping and praying she'd hear the high pitched, chirpy voice of Yui greeting her.

_"Ricchan, you came to visit!"_

"Yeah, I did… Yui." Ritsu whispered to herself. She was alone here, completely.

With the shades drawn and all the curtains pulled over all the windows, the place was eerily dim. Some of the furniture was still there, including that crescent shaped couch with the green cushions. It looked a sickly olive color in the low light, and Ritsu could see multiple dark brown stains against it. The stains were from some liquid being splattered against it, and dripping downwards. She gulped and stepped a little closer to see those stains better. The floor around the couch was stained too. It looked so much like blood it was hard to think of it as anything else. Ritsu had heard that blood was really hard to clean out if it soaked into the fabric. If that was the case, did this mean she was looking at _Ui's_ blood?

She stepped away from the couch and looked at where the dining room table should have been. There was a loose sock lying in the corner, something that had been left behind when their parents had no doubt moved away. The kitchen had a few left over pots and pans as well, and it made Ritsu wonder just how thorough they had been when they moved. Her next destination was the stairs up to the next floor. She stopped briefly, and her eyes wandered to the couch there. The dark colored stains were on the wall too, starting midway from the top and etching to the ground. It was spooky; she didn't remember seeing them when she first looked at the couch. She must have missed them, because they couldn't have just appeared.

_Yeah, and Yui couldn't have just disappeared._

Upstairs, it was darker, and Ritsu considered using her cell phone like a makeshift flashlight. That was silly though, it wasn't like there was anything she needed to see in detail. Her heart was racing faster, and she had the sudden urge to just sprint on out of there and not look back. The urge was nearly overwhelming, and she knew it made all the sense in the world to follow it, but something was moving her forward. There was something to found here, she just knew it. Navigating through the dark, she stepped into Yui's room. The inside was pitch black, which was a surprise that nearly made Ritsu yelp out loud.

Even at night, there should have been _some_ kind of light in there. Her hand fumbled for the light switch near the door, but couldn't find anything. The anxiety she was feeling was growing stronger and stronger as she took out her cell phone and used its light. The screen provided a small circle of illumination around her. In the room there was a vacant desk, devoid of any features; Yui's bed, which was now just a naked mattress; and a nightstand next to it. There was something on that nightstand though, a small shape Ritsu couldn't quite make out. She stepped closer, and sat down on the mattress there to look at it. The whole time, she had a nagging fear that something under the bed was going to grab her and pull her under. Some childhood worries never went away.

What was standing on that nightstand was a framed photograph. The glass was cracked like someone had carelessly dropped it. Ritsu picked it up and used her cell phone to see what it was.

It was Yui's middle school graduation picture, where she had her arm around a smiling Nadoka. Yui's expression in it was cheerful, and so innocent. Ritsu heard that the psychopaths are the ones you never expect, but this was too far. The juxtaposition between Yui and a killer was just too strong here. Yui didn't have a drop of bad blood in her, and was frankly too much of a crybaby to ever hold a grudge against anyone. It was absurd as… it was absurd as Mugi shoving someone out of the way just because she was impatient.

Tears were fast forming in Ritsu's eyes, and her lower lip was quivering to match them.

_She wrote that song about her, and it was so touching. She was so reluctant to go away to university and leave her sister behind. She visited her and Azusa every chance she got!_

Ritsu's nose began to run and the picture in front of her became blurry as her eyes became waterier and waterier. She sniffled hard, and felt those tears running down her cheeks as her breath hitched.

_She and Azusa were so close, so close that Mio and I joked about how they were probably more than just friends. With the way they acted, how couldn't we? Then she just… had to do this and leave Azusa alone like that. Why, Yui, why did you do it? And what about Ui? Officer Wang had no reason to lie to me. I believe him, I honestly do, and that's the scary part. I just want to know why. There could even be a justifiable reason to this, something that drives the fog away and lets me see things clear. I just need some kind of answer. Why would you do it, Yui? Ui looked up to you and help you up on a pedestal like you were some kind of goddess. You meant so much to her, and to do that. This is the ultimate betrayal, the most sinister violation of trust. Ui must have… she was… she was…_

"_SHE WAS YOUR SISTER!" _Ritsu screamed into the darkness. "_SHE WAS YOUR SISTER AND YOU KILLED HER!"_

"_She didn't do it, Ritsu._" Something whispered with the wind.

Her blood froze cold. Ritsu could have heard she heard a girl's voice whispered that. It had carried with the draft all around her. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably now, and everything seemed too cold. In the tiny bit of light given by her cell phone, she could see her breath fogging. This didn't last long, for the light suddenly vanished. Essentially blind, she held up the phone and tried turning it on again. Nothing happened; the battery must have been dead. Maybe this was some kind of supernatural nonsense, or maybe she had genuinely forgotten to charge her battery. She honestly couldn't remember when the last time she had charged it had been.

Downstairs, Ritsu heard a thump like something had been knocked over. She froze perfectly still, and was afraid her heartbeat could be heard for miles with how hard it was thumping in her chest. Had her scream been heard by someone? Chances were it had. She had been careless and acted on emotion there. If someone came in asking about what that noise was, she'd explain herself honestly. Being already in tears, it wouldn't be hard to put on a convincing, but true act. Rationality was shoved aside by primal fear, and Ritsu suddenly had the urge to just throw herself under the bed and hide until all the shadows and darkness were gone.

Downstairs, Ritsu heard a quieter thump, following by what sounded like something or some people struggling. There was a quick female yelp that was muffled from where Ritsu was sitting. This could actually be something bad, she decided. Maybe some other people had just happened to come in here too, and maybe they were doing something they shouldn't. As a soon-to-be policewoman, Ritsu still had a job to make sure everyone was okay. Swallowing fear, she stood up to leave that black, icy cold room and check downstairs. Outside Yui's room, everything was brighter and more colorful; much more so than she remembered it being before she stepped in there. It was much lighter, like the sun had suddenly begun to shine. The buzzing of cicadas could be heard as well, which was sudden a little startling. It was too early in the year for them.

She crept to the edge of the stairs and looked down there. It was bright and sunny out, and the living room had all its furnishings again. Ritsu blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the illusion, but it looked just as real as her. It was like their home had never changed. The intense cold was gone too, replaced by the warm, comfortable, muggy air of summer. It made her jacket seem too warm and heavy for the climate. A cool breeze blew from an open window down the hallway, from where outside she could see trees bursting with green leaves. They hadn't been like that when she came there. With the wind came the scent of cut grass and flowers; the smells of summer. Downstairs, the faint sound of the news coming from the TV could be heard.

_What's going on? Is this supposed to be what I wanted, the answers to my questions? Am I supposed to see something here?_

Thosewere her thoughts as she slowly stepped down the stairs. The stairs were warm against her bare feet, sort of soothing in their own way. On the table in front of the couch, breakfast was made; toast, rice, yogurt, and two bentos waiting to be taken to school. It all looked so delicious, mouthwateringly so. Ritsu recognized it; it was undeniably Ui's cooking.

How real was it? She couldn't help but wonder. Maybe a quick taste would be in order. It wasn't like it was hurting anyone. Although part of her mind screamed at her that this was an outrageously awful idea, Ritsu stepped forward with that jelly covered toast on her mind.

She stopped as she stepped in something damp in the carpet.

"Huh?" Ritsu muttered to herself out loud, and then raised her foot up to see what she had stepped into. Chances were it was just water or something Ui had spilled in this strange dream world.

No, the bottom of her foot was smeared with an orange-red substance that looked a little too much like blood. She looked down that the floor there, and saw the red liquid was spilled all over the place. Her breath was caught in her throat as her eyes slowly looked from the ground to the scene in front of her. Blood, she was sure it was blood, was splattered against the table, the food, and all over the couch in sticky red rivulets that ran down into little puddles. It was even against the wall, including just visible handprints in it too.

_"We found Hirasawa Ui in the living room there, just… I don't know what would possess a per__son to do to her what they did. The green couch was just covered in blood. Not just the couch, there was fucking blood all over the place. On the floor, the table, over the food she had set up for her and her sister, even on the some of the walls. It looked like some slit her throat first, but there weren't any signs of struggling on her part, or anywhere. Nothing was turned over; there was no sign of forced entry, or any evidence leading to the killer. From what we all gathered, she had her throat cut with a razor blade, like the kind of you find in disposable razors, and then was slashed and stabbed all over with one of those knives you use to carve bread…"_

"This… this… t-this can't be real…" She struggled to exhale in the midst of her bewildered breathing. Ritsu stepped back away from the gore streaked scene of the crime, and of course stepped into more blood. It was outstanding how much blood was in the human body, and how much space could be covered by it. She stepped back quicker, until she was leaning with her back against the wall next to the stairs. Her rapidly beating heart sounded like it should have gone alongside a metronome beeping out the rhythm of 240bpm. All she could do was slump there and wonder why she had even come in the first place.

With the blink of an eye, the house was its gray, desolate self again. The rain had picked up outside, and was spraying down in loud torrents. With things back to normal, and no longer a nostalgic portrait of Hell, Ritsu practically dived for the stairs down to the door.

"It's funny, you know." _Azusa's voice _said from behind her. Ritsu scrambled around to face her and saw the form of her dead kouhai standing near the kitchen in her school uniform. Her arms were crossed and there was a bemused expression on her face.

"W-What… what are you doing here?" Ritsu struggled to make those few, simple words.

"Following you, mostly." She shrugged indifferently. "Ever since you and Mugi showed up, things have gotten _much_ more interesting. Unfortunately, interesting doesn't mean _good_. In fact, interesting means very, very _bad_. It's funny how just one person can make such a huge difference; and a normal human no less."

"I do not understand a word of what you're saying." Ritsu shook her head. "I also don't like you dressing up as my dead friend. It's disrespectful."

"Hey, I didn't pick this form; it's just how you end up seeing me." The Azusa simulacrum replied, a little frustrated. "Anyway, I think you and her need to pack up leave this place and go very, very far away."

"Maybe you're right about that, but not until I get some answers." Ritsu suddenly found the courage to face this otherworldly girl. The fear in her voice was gone, and she felt a strange kind of inner strength.

"You don't want answers." Mock-Azusa frowned.

"I'm not going to walk away without knowing what happened to my friends." Ritsu pressed. "I need to know what made Yui do this, where she is, and what this Entity of Suffering thing is."

"To answer all three questions." 'Azusa' raised a finger. "One, Yui didn't do it." She raised another finger. "Two, I couldn't tell you where she went because she moves around too much." The last finger was raised. "Three, the Entity of Suffering, also known as The Bearer of Light, the Pharaoh, The Keeper of the Forest, and about fifty other things depending on what culture brands him as their anti-Christ; is something so bad, so evil, and so vast that I don't think you could even bear the thought of it."

"Try me." Ritsu gritted her teeth. "This thing tried to do things to Mugi's head. I'm not letting that go."

"The best thing you could do to get back it would be to leave." Azusa told her. "I can't say for certain how much that'll prolong it, depending on how much suffering it can feed off of around here. Honestly, it's pretty limited right now, more than it's ever been at any other time."

"What is this thing though? Is it a god, a demon, spirit, what? Where did it come from."

"I don't know." She answered right away. "For all I know it's always been there, or came from far away, or… yeah, I don't have a straight answer. Wherever it came from, it's here to stay, so better make plans to leave. I'm being serious about this; you don't want to stay here."

Ritsu noticed that this mock Azusa seemed a little more urgent though. She still wanted answers and pressed on, "But what happened to Yui, why did she kill her sister?"

"She didn't."

"Then who did?"

Azusa sighed and took a deep breath. "See, the Entity has its own little world and to make people suffer, it lets that world flow into other ones. According to some other people, but I can't say if this is true or not, his world has destroyed a lot of ones that are parallel to the one we're in right now. That's why I said 'In the eyes of the forests keeper, you've died a thousand times'. Well, I'm from his world actually, but I got a lucky break. Some of us can lead perfectly normal lives and don't suffer. Some suffer so much they only want to see other people do the same. That's how your friend died. Someone who had a connection to Yui managed to blur the border between worlds and… the darkness just kind of ruined everything you could say, and took her with it."

"Does that mean… something from that other world killed Ui, and then took Yui?" Ritsu tried to make sense of her words.

The other girl nodded. "More or less. As for your Azusa, what happened to her was a direct result. Losing them made her suffer, which was what the Entity wanted. She took her life from the grief, which is orgasmic bliss to that being. Look, no more questions, you really, _really_ need to get far away from this town."

"Is this… Entity after me?" Ritsu gulped, feeling her stomach lurch in sheer dread at the thought of that.

"No." Azusa shook her head. "He's not, and he _is_ a he. He's after the other girl, because… she… she…"

Ritsu stepped back as this Azusa simulacrum fell to her knees and started trembling violently. She gritted her teeth, and grasped at her arms like she was trying to struggle against something. Ritsu swallowed her fear and quickly stepped over to her, and placed a hand on the spasming girl's shoulder.

"H-Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, giving her a gently shake. Honestly, she had no idea what to do here since this Azusa said she was from another world, another dimension where things could work different.

"It…. it doesn't want… y-you to…" The girl struggled to say as her hands slowly and shakily moved down to her midriff, like they were moving on their own. "P-Please listen… it…" Her eyes went wide with fright as her hands started unbuttoning the bottom buttons of her uniform on her own accord. Her struggling pleas towards Ritsu turned into frantic shouts. "No! S-Stop, I'll leave her alone, I won't say anymore, just stop!"

Ritsu was vaguely aware of what was happening, and grabbed at Azusa's wrists, trying to stop her from doing whatever this thing possessing her was trying to make her do. It was no use; she couldn't make her arms move at all. They continued their course.

"She's not even listening!" She shouted at nothing. Tears were falling down the fake Azusa's face, as she frantically begged to whatever unknown force controlling her. While Ritsu couldn't say for certain, she had an idea of _who _was causing it. "You can make me suffer, you can take away the light, just don't do this! _I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_"

"You're not going anywhere." Ritsu grunted as she tried to take hold of Azusa's wrists.

The girl seemed to have superhuman strength, and she ignored Ritsu as she pulled her blazer open to reveal her bare stomach. Her fingernails grazed the flesh, and Ritsu realized in horror what she was trying to do. This force was trying to make her rip herself open, which was evident with the tips of her fingernails clawing at the smooth, white skin there. With a sickening feeling of treachery, Ritsu let go of her and scrambled back. This other Azusa had done nothing but try to help her, but she knew there was nothing she could do. Logic told her to run and not look back, but she couldn't avert her gaze or block out the screaming.

The fibers of her belly broke, and blood began pouring through her fingers. The Other Azusa's screams became more of choking sobs, and cries of pain as her fingers dug into the flesh there. The sickening sounds of flesh tearing rang in Ritsu's ears, and with one massive tear outwards with both hands, effectively ripping her open. All of a sudden Ritsu's own screams matched the paled, choking gasps of Azusa as the poor girl was driven by unholy forces to frantically disembowel herself. Reddened hands brutally yanked and pulled at entrails for several agonizing, sickening seconds. With the splatter of her guts on the ground, she collapsed over dead with a puddle of blood quickly forming around her.

Coming from… somewhere, Ritsu heard a feminine voice say in a insultingly pleasant tone, "This could have been avoided if she had just been a good girl…"

Ritsu recognized that voice. It was the one she heard in the basement, from the girl with blue eyes. She bolted to her feet then and made a sprint for the exit. With two leaps, she cleared the entire flight of stairs and practically threw herself against the door to open in. In her ears, she could hear the faint laughing of that blue eyed girl coming from somewhere. Only one hand was free to get the door open, because she still had the framed photo in the other. Ritsu found herself slightly surprised that she still had in her hands. She could have sworn she put it down when she went to stop the other Azusa from… doing what she did. There it was in her hands though. This was a good thing, something like that was an artifact from better days. She took it with her as she opened the door, slammed it behind her and splashed across the yard to the sidewalk.

She cringed when she realized that forgot her shoes inside the house. There was no way she was going back in there for any reason. Struggling to catch her breath, she looked around the previously dead neighborhood. Something had sparked life into it, and it was now a breathing entity once again. Cars drove their way down the street; kids were splashing around in puddles while dressed up for the rain. None of them seemed to notice her, or the worried look on her face, or the fact she had sprinted out of a vacant home with her shoes missing and a photograph in hand.

The feeling of relief came next, because Ritsu knew she was out of that mess; at least for now. Forgetting about her shoes, she hurried down the sidewalk to get home and meet Mugi again. The thoughts in her head were scrambled, and unfocused, and she wasn't sure want to believe now. The other Azusa kept telling her to leave, and was driven to a horrible death because of it. Ritsu wasn't even sure how real this had all been. Had that girl even died? Or was a big charade made to just scare her away from this place. The thirst for answers wasn't entirely quenched though. She had more of an understanding, sort of, about what happened, but was still eager to know the whole story. Okay, something bad from the world the Entity of Suffering hangs out got through and made Yui into a killer, and then snatched her away. If this was the case, was there a way she could bring Yui back to their world? Despite other Azusa's warnings, she wasn't about to leave just yet. There was more to learn, and hopefully something she could save. The big questions Ritsu wanted answered were…

Where was Yui now, and how could she get her back?

Who was that blue eyed girl, and what role did she play in this?

Were she and Mugi in danger from the Entity of Suffering?

That last one was a stupid question, Ritsu realized. _Of course_ they were in danger, and she was a bad friend for getting Mugi involved in any of this. God, she had really made a mess for the two of them. The best thing to do, she decided, was to just keep Mugi in the dark about all of this. Keep her safe, and keep her happily ignorant about the Entity of Suffering and the other worlds around them. Ritsu wondered what methods she should take to protect them. Something told her a Glock 17 wouldn't do jack shit against anything trying to… do… _things_ to them. She didn't even know what to expect, or how to prepare for it.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to pay a visit to one of the shrines and speak to one of the kannushi about this. She'd have to be vague about how she found out about the Entity of Suffering, or what her involvement was. She knew those traditional priests were extremely cautious and paranoid about things such as this. If she could just make something up or claim it was for a project on local folklore, then she couldn't probably get through it without arousing too much suspicion. She just had to find out what kind of protection she could use here. If anyone knew, it'd be those priests since she was sure Sugiura would be useless in this.

**HOME, AGAIN**

After coming home, Ritsu had quickly and covertly hid the graduation picture of Yui and Nodoka amongst her packed clothes. It wasn't something she wanted Mugi seeing, because questions would be asked. She was sure lying about it would be a simple thing, but lying to Mugi felt wrong. It was better just to hide it for now.

"Ricchan, do you need help looking for something?" Mugi asked as her hairband wearing pal searched through boxes of her old things. Ritsu had come home from… Mugi wasn't actually sure what she had been doing, but she had come home barefoot and really shaken up.

"Nope, I just gotta find the right box here." She replied right away, and tore open another box to quickly search through. These were boxes in the storage closet that had a lot of her old things she had been meaning to pick up and take to her new apartment, but hadn't gotten around to it. For now, they just sat there collecting dust with the rest of her family's storage items. Buried beneath her old school uniform, she found two shoes she hadn't worn since her graduation ceremony. "Ah-ha, found them!"

"What'd you find?" Mugi looked over her shoulders. "Your old shoes?"

"Yeah." She nodded and stood up, bumping to Mugi as she did so.

"What happened to the other pair you had?"

"Uhh." Ritsu thought for a moment, quickly trying to fabricate a lie. "Well, you see, what happened was… I passed this place that donating clothing for kids in… uh, Africa that didn't have things like shoes or, uh, socks. So I decided I would be a benevolent soul and give mine away. It was short sighted, yeah, but kids like that need shoes more than I do. I've been meaning to buy new ones for a while anyway."

_There's no way she's going to fall for this…_

"Aww, you should have taken me along too. I would have gladly given up my shoes for poor children." Mugi pouted.

"Yeah, but your shoes have heels." Ritsu pointed out. "Africa has a lot of sand, and heels aren't good for walking around in sand."

"Oh, that's a good point!" The blonde happily exclaimed. "That reminds me, are you free tomorrow?"

Ritsu nodded, "I wanted to take a visit to a shrine by myself in the morning, but besides that, yeah."

"Good, good." The two of them walked out of the closet, and Ritsu closed the door behind them. They went down the hall and towards the stairs. As they did, Mugi told Ritsu about the plans she had formulated. "I was checking around online while you were gone, and I decided that tomorrow, I'm going to make good on my promise to properly thank you. Is dinner and a movie okay?"

"Sounds a bit like a date." Ritsu gave a dry chuckle. "No, in all honestly that sounds like the sweetest breath of fresh air ever. What's playing?"

"I don't actually know." Mugi giggled. Her happiness at these plans being so quickly confirmed was practically radiating off of her. "I don't care what we see, I'm just happy to go with you. I already picked the restaurant. You know that one Italian place downtown that has commercials on TV sometimes?"

"That place? Isn't that really, really expensive?" Ritsu gasped.

"Is it? The prices looked pretty average to me." The keyboardist looked surprised at Ritsu's reaction. "Is it a bad place? Would you rather go somewhere else?"

"N-No, it's not that…" The brunette defensively waved her hands. "It's just, wow, getting treated out to a place like that."

_This really does sound like a date… I hope Mugi isn't treating it like one._

"It's no problem at all, don't worry." Mugi assured her. "There was something else I wanted to ask. Are you alright, Ricchan? Ever since you got home you've been really jumpy and nervous looking."

They were downstairs now, and it was just the two of them there for now. Ritsu sat down on her knees at the table in the living room and gently shook her head. "I'm still pretty shook up about Azusa. I have to tell Mio about this, and I'm really, really not looking forward to it. There's a lot anxiety in me right now, but I think some of it will go away tomorrow; thanks to you. If you want to make me feel better now, you could always make some tea and we could watch a bit of that new drama coming on in a few."

"That sounds great!" Mugi exclaimed. "If you want, I can go with you when you tell Mio-chan. Something like that has to be done in person, and not over the phone or in a text."

"Yeah, you're right…" Ritsu sighed, and reached forward for the TV remote.

Mugi walked out of the room towards the kitchen, going to make tea that Ritsu probably wouldn't even taste in her current state. All the drummer could do was sit there and try desperate to get the image of the other Azusa's intestines being yanked out with her very own fingers. The mental picture of that kept making her gag reflex trigger, and a few times she was afraid she would start dry heaving. It wasn't just the image of it, but that god awful wet ripping sound. Something like that couldn't just leave her, and it was there for good. The screams too, those screams coming from a girl who was the exact image of Azusa. Ritsu all of a sudden couldn't separate the two in her mind, the fake Azusa and the real one. She heard those screams fresh in her mind and imagined the Azusa she knew wandering alone in the woods, like she had done in the dreams that brought Ritsu there in the first place. She heard the screams and could clearly imagine Azusa putting the gun against her head, her body acting with consent of the mind; acting like a puppet controlled by something so horrible that it was beyond comprehension.

She stood up all of a sudden and near sprinted for the bathroom. Tears were spilling out of her eyes and she was shaking all over. Ritsu couldn't Mugi see her in the throes of a panic attack. The shakes weren't going away, and the crying was impossible to stop. She was going to be in there for a while if she wanted to wait it out. Acting completely on impulse, she staggered over to the bathtub and turned the faucet to get the shower going. It was an excuse, something to throw Mugi off and stop her from worrying.

In her hurry, she hadn't even completely shut the door behind her. The soft steps of Mugi's bare feet could be heard, along with creaking of the door as the blonde glimpsed inside. Mugi gave a curious glance, no doubt confused as to why a fully clothed Ritsu was starting water for a shower with the door not closed.

"Are… you alright?" The confused keyboardist asked.

Without turning around, Ritsu tried desperately to sound calm and coherent, "Y-Yeah, fine! I just want to take a quick shower so I don't catch a cold from being out in the rain. I don't want to ruin tomorrow by getting sick, ha!"

"Right, I'll just, uh, have tea ready for when you're out." Mugi slowly stepped back and closed the door. Ritsu felt bad for leaving her in a state of confusion like that, but it was far and beyond better than letting Mugi watch her break down. Breaking down was exactly what she was doing. She practically tore her clothes off before sitting in the shower and letting the scalding hot water spray down on her. Ritsu hugged her knees tight and tried not to blink. If she just focused on the little rivulets of water draining in the faucet, and the sound of the shower water pattering against her and the tub, she could block out almost everything else. That didn't stop the shakes though, which was understandable since she was in the midst of a full blown panic attack.

The literal crippling anxiety didn't subside at all, but in fact, got worse. As minutes passed, Ritsu found herself in the fetal position with her eyes shut and her hands over her ears. She tried and tried and tried to get the picture of the disembowelment out of her head, along with the screams. She tried to block them out and replace them with something else, but couldn't. It just kept repeating over and over, and she just kept hearing that same line,

_"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"_

Ritsu had no idea how long she had been lying there until the hot water finally gave up and became cold. Nerves shot to hell and back, she finally sat up and quickly went about the business of taking an actual shower. She swiftly washed her hair, made sure everything was smooth and devoid of unwanted hairs, and decided it was time to rejoin the living again. Dressing in a bathrobe, she stepped out of the bathroom and went to see if Mugi wasn't fraught with worry.

Sitting in the living room with Mugi was also her mother. They each had a teacup, and that drama was on TV. Mrs. Tainaka gave her daughter a smirk and said, "You ask Mugi to make tea, and then you go hide in the shower for nearly an hour. It's a wonder she puts up with you."

"Yeah… sorry about that…" Ritsu exhaled, blushing a bit.

Mugi gave her a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry about it Ricchan. Just don't forget, I'm always here for you, even if you're afraid to look weak around anyone."

"It was just a shower, cut me a break." She forced a smile and headed for the stairs. "Just let me get dressed and I'll be back with you two."

"You're so see through, Ricchan." Mugi giggled. "You don't have to lie around me. In fact, I think it would be better if you were more honest about your feelings. Everything is easier if we face it together."

"Maybe." Ritsu replied, curtly, and hurried to go put on clean clothes.

_You're right, Mugi, _she thought as she headed up the stairs. _It is easier if we handle things together, but it puts you in danger. If anyone is going to have what happened to the other Azusa replicated with them; it's going to be me. I'm not letting you get involved, Mugi. This mystery is mine and mine alone, and I don't want to direct help from anyone. _

Despite her caution and attempts at keeping Mugi out of this, there wasn't anything she would be able to do in the long run.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	7. Mislead

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART SEVEN**

**MISLEAD**

"_The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in their own direction, have hitherto harmed us little, but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."_

_-_H.P. Lovecraft

"Can I come with you?" Mugi asked Ritsu that next morning as the drummer slipped on her oh-so-cool leather jacket. The blonde had only the vaguest idea about what her friend was doing; something about going to a shrine. She was being really secretive about it, and just the day before she had disappeared for several hours without saying anything about where she had gone. Plus, that hour long shower and how shaken up she was had arose worry inside Mugi. She was afraid Ritsu was bottling up all her emotions about Azusa's death, which could lead to scary results. Then there was what happened the other night with the forest too.

Mugi could barely remember the night in the woods, or what came after. It was all such a blur, and just thinking about it made her dizzy. What had she even been doing out there again? Had she and Ritsu gone for an evening hike and met and old friend from school? Mugi could barely remember who Ayumu was, only that she had been flirting a bit and liked odd music. She couldn't remember a thing about her house either. It had been some flat in town, she remember that much, and she had several cats and the hot water wasn't working. She also remembered that Ayumu had the prettiest and most peculiar blue eyes. Maybe it was worth getting that girl's number, since she seemed obviously interested. That was, of course, if things tonight didn't-

"Sorry, I need some alone time." Ritsu dismissed her and slipped on her old school shoes. They were so stiff and uncomfortable, and she was almost tempted to make a rescue operation to get her old shoes back. Of course that was an awful idea she wouldn't follow up on. The Entity of Suffering could _have_ her shoes. Ritsu wasn't all that attached to them.

"Please?" Mugi practically begged, gently touching Ritsu's arm. "I like spending time with you."

Ritsu sighed and stepped away from her. "I'm sorry, Mugi, I really need to do this alone."

"It isn't good for you to hold all your emotions in like this!" The blonde nearly shouted, and her voice was dripping and laden with concern and worry. "Azusa-chan was my friend too, remember? The two of us should be together in this, instead of being quiet and not speaking about it."

Ritsu shook her head and made her way to the door. "That's not it, Mugi. It's not about Azusa right now. This is something different, and not as personal."

"It's… not?"

"No, it isn't." She confirmed. "I'll be back in a bit. Don't worry about me, this isn't anything bad."

"But-" Mugi went to say, but was cut off by the sound of the door closing. Her heart sunk, and she felt incredibly neglected just then. Alone, she dismissed the rest of what she was going to say. "If's not anything bad… why can't I come with you?"

Feeling dejected, she went to go make some tea and probably just mess around on her smartphone until Ritsu got back. The advertisements for the phone had been wrong; there wasn't an app for everything, especially not one for loneliness. She sat alone the table in the living room, staring in front of her at the remote for the TV. How many countless hours had she wasted in her apartment mindlessly flipping through dramas, game shows, talk shows, and the occasional moe anime? That wasn't the kind of life she wanted to live. Loneliness crept up on her again, and all she could do was wait for Ricchan to return.

**RITSU GOES ALONE**

The weather _still_ hadn't picked up as the drummer walked through the suburbs in those uncomfortable shoes. She felt bad about just leaving Mugi like that, but realized this was probably better than lying. Even if she never found out, lying to someone like Mugi just felt wrong. It was cloudy out, but the blue sky had broken through in patches. Looking up, the sky looked like a still sea of water obscured by thick, churning fog. It looked like something you could just fall into if gravity wasn't holding you in place. Even without the rain, it was still rough out there with the faster and harder winds. They blew against Ritsu, determined to steal away her jacket. She held strong though, and pushed on.

The small wooded path leading to the shrine reminded Ritsu that a walk through the forest _could_ be relaxing. It was just a normal forest, bright green with the colors of May. The damp ground, blooming flowers, occasional bit of trash served as a reminder that she was only a short distance from civilization. This wasn't some nightmare world of suffering like the last foray into the forest had been. When she passed and elderly couple walking past her, she felt insurmountable relief. Ritsu could only hope she wasn't permanently stuck with a phobia of being in forests.

It was only moments later that the slanted roof and beautiful architecture of the shrine came into view. Visitors were about; ringing the bell; making offerings or just commenting on some of the ancient stone idols that were over a century old. If Ritsu remembered correctly, this place was very, very old and had been a stop for travelers back before the automobile. It had been renovated to modern building standards, but still kept its old world charm and sense of mystery. It was funny, when you sat at home, the ideas of kami and oni were just a silly myth. When one stood at the stone steps of the ancient shrine, surrounded by primordial forest that separated them from civilization, they could feel the hum of unseen power around them. Ritsu felt this as her old school shoes clicked against the stone steps leading upwards to the rope, bell, and offering box. If she was going to try to speak with the kannushi of this shrine, it felt proper to make an offering first. She had a few hundred yen on her.

She knew the kannushi of this shrine was old, probably pushing eighty years just from a guess made the time she saw him once when she was there with her friends. Kannushi were in charge of the upkeep of the shrine, and heading some of the traditional practices. It used to be said that they were a medium between humans and kami. If that were really true, it made Ritsu wonder of that old village that was burned to the ground had a kannushi communicating with their own local god.

On second thought, she _didn't_ want to know.

Ritsu rang the bell, clapped her hands and tossed a few coins in. Her prayer was for Mugi's safety above her own in all of this. If this Entity of Suffering was a real thing, she hoped and prayed that the good spirits were real too, and would protect her. All of a sudden she wished she had dressed nicer too. Jeans, leather jacket, blue shirt underneath with the faded logo for the band _The Who_. It wasn't exactly the classiest thing to wear to meeting a very traditional old man. She swallowed that itch of fear and stepped towards the little building that was the shrine's equivalent of an office building. Sitting on a bench near the door was a miko, dressed in her distinctive and traditional white and red robe. Around the building were stone statuettes of doglike lion guardians: komainu. Their ugly stone faces snarled at her, watching her as she approached the young maiden. They made Ritsu feel unwelcome, like they could see and smell the shadow lurking too close behind her.

"Hey, excuse me…" Ritsu caught the shrine maiden's attention.

"Oh!" The miko gasped in surprise. She had been daydreaming or something, and hadn't even noticed Ritsu walking right up to her. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, I'm looking for the kunnushi of this shrine. Is he available?"

The priestess nodded. "He is. Have you met Tsuchimikado-san before?"

Ritsu shook her head. "I haven't."

"Then I will warn you. He is a short-tempered man who doesn't like to have his time wasted. I'm assuming this is about a question you may have?"

"How'd you know?" Ritsu was impressed with her guess.

The miko shrugged. "Why else would you wish to speak with him?"

"Good point."

The miko stood up and gestured for Ritsu to follow her. She took her around side the small administrative building, and slid the door on open. Inside, there was a small table with seats lying around it. It looked like the building was little more than a kitchen and parlor combined, with a crowded and messy office adjunct to it through a small door. From that office, a positively ancient looking man stepped out. His thin white hair was tied back neatly, and his mustache and beard were trimmed to handsome lengths. The kimono he wore looked like it was made in an era most people had only read about. The miko gave a quick bow in his direction and said, "Tsuchimikado-san, you have a visitor here. She has something, or something she would like to ask you."

"Alright, I have a moment." Tsuchimikado's voice was dry, and reminded Ritsu of crumpled up newspapers some how. He slowly and painstakingly sat down on his knees at one side of the other and gestured for Ritsu to do the same. "Kawahire, is that tea you were starting earlier almost done?"

"Yes, Tsuchimikado-san." The miko nodded, and stepped gracefully towards the kitchen to check on a steaming kettle of water.

Ritsu slipped her shoes off and stepped in, nervously adding, "Pardon the intrusion." At the last moment before sitting down across from him on her knees.

"So." The elderly priest began. "This is a question about the shrine, Shinto, or something to do with a difficult moral choice."

"Shinto, maybe…" Ritsu found herself extremely nervous all of a sudden. This man was incredibly intimidating, and she was terrified of his reaction about this risky information. "I'm, uh, a university student from Tokyo researching for a paper about, uh, local folklore and myth. Do you anything about something called the…" She took a deep breath, and found her hands shaking from nervousness. Just mentioning this thing to another person felt like she was somehow signing her own death warrant. "…Entity… of Suffering?"

The furry white eyebrows of Tsuchimikado raised in surprise at her question. He stroked his bears for a moment with his narrow, gnarled fingers and took a moment to reply. "That is… not the kind of thing I would expect an aspiring student to wish to know about. Such things are better not spoken of, for nothing good comes from them. I do not wish to scare you, but many who have sought knowledge about this legend have met unexplainable ends."

"I know." Ritsu whispered, and told the half-truth, "I didn't want to learn about this. I started poking around and researching a bit, and then found some old newspaper clips and police reports from when that-"

"How did you find those?" Tsuchimikado cut her off, and leaned forward to listen intently. "My brother and I went to some effort to burn any evidence of this, and yet a young girl like you knows both about the being and the village. How is this possible?"

"I…" The words stuck in Ritsu's throat, trying to strangle her again. "I just talked to some other girl who had a bunch of this stuff in her basement."

Now he seemed even more interested. "Girl?" He shook his head and sighed, "Please tell me her name wasn't Sugiura Ayumu."

Ritsu went pale. "It… It was…"

Tsuchimikado shuddered. "Curse her name. That little devil girl came here many times before demanding to know, with no tact or fear! We gave her absolutely nothing and she screamed and made threats at us."

Ritsu was shivering now, frightened to the core. She gulped and asked, "S-She h-had a lot of stuff about this. Is this b-bad?"

"Maybe, maybe not." The priest sighed again. "I am not too worried, since all of Sugiura's collected proof should be destroyed by now anyway. You are lucky to remain unharmed as long as you have after dealing with her. This spread of information gets people killed."

"B-But… it's only been a couple days since I talked to her." Ritsu found herself whimpering.

"You must be mistaken." Tsuchimikado frowned. "Are we talking about the same Sugiura?"

"I… don't know. Black hair, brown eyes, glasses, dirty Toyota?"

He shook his head. "She had bright blue eyes. The reason I say you are mistaken, is because her home was found burned to the ground, everything she had owned was incinerated, and her body was found and indentified by the police. She was quite thoroughly dead, miss."

"When… when did this happen?'

"About two years ago."

Ritsu felt herself spiraling from this given information. None of this could be real. Ayumu and her home, information, and everything else had been what, ghosts? What was she supposed to make of this now? Was the Ayumu she met like the Azusa who had been gutted? Just reflections from some kind of dark world? Did they have metal music in that dark world? Her body was shivering again, and she was afraid she was going to have another panic attack like she had in that shower. Without thinking, she stood up and gave an awkward bow, "T-Thank you Tsuchimikado-sama. I n-need to leave n-now and… and…"

She was already stepping away as he met her eyes with his. As she was hurrying away, the elderly priest gave her a few words of advice, "There is a form of protection against anything that would come at you. The more you suffer, the worse it gets."

Hating herself for disrespecting him in this manner, Ritsu found herself just running away from the shrine, desperate to get back to the safety of poured cement and civilization. Why did he have to quote the other Azusa? Why did he have to hint that he had some involvement in this whole dark whirlwind of chaos blowing around her? Ritsu wished so much that none of this had happened. Her quick run had turned into a full blown sprint as she dashed through the path back to the road through the woods. People eyed her with curiosity as she sped past them, a hair's width away from breaking down into tears. Somehow she mustered up what little shattered willpower she had left and didn't cry or scream. She remained composed, only shaken up.

Beyond the fear was a sense of frustration at her ignorance about all of this. There were a dozen of unanswered questions about everything. It felt like everyone she had met knew everything there was to know about the woods, and what which controlled them, and what they could do. Everyone but her, and Mugi.

Somehow thinking the name of that cute, curvy little blonde managed to invoke the comfort and sanctuary of modern civilization. She was back on the sidewalk again. Cars passed her, people walked by, and the sounds of modernized Japan sang in her ears. Around her, the lights of advertisements and signs were her reminder that she was safe from the dark and primeval unknown. What was she going to do next? She was going to walk home, apologize for leaving so suddenly to Mugi, and then _forget about all of this_. That was right, this was the last straw, and Ritsu was done and fed up with this paranormal, evil world bullshit. She wanted to rekindle the fire of _HTT_, play with her two founding members of the band, and be best friends again. She didn't want anything to do with this anymore. She didn't want to know what lied beyond in those gray woods. She was going to go eat dinner, watch a movie, and _forget_.

**RITSU DANCES TO FORGET**

"There has to be something here that would look good on you." Mrs. Tainaka pouted as she searched her goliath walk-in closet for something that would fit her dear daughter.

"Can't I look?" Ritsu asked, sitting at the edge of her parents' king sized bed.

"No!" Her mother snapped at her. "You don't know how to dress properly for a nice dinner. You'd probably wear that jacket and shorts."

"What's wrong with my jacket and shorts?" Ritsu asked, feeling her patience begin to slip. "It's not like this a date or anything. Why do I need to dress up?"

"Because your friend obviously wants this night to be special. While you were gone yesterday, she was asking me all about your favorite foods, where I'd think you'd want to go, and what she could wear that would impress you. She was so excited, but at the same time really nervous. I think you hurt her feeling with the way you keep disappearing and ignoring her."

"I'm not trying to ignore her…" Ritsu sighed, feeling the guilt eat at her. "…I just need some time by myself. What happened to Azusa, it did a lot more than I thought it would."

"Two you are dealing with this very bravely." Her mother tried to comfort her.

Ritsu shook her head. "No, I'm not, but thanks. I guess Mugi must be really lonely where she is now if she's treating this night like it a Valentine's Day date. It'll be fun though, I'm sure we'll have a great time. I'm sure a lot of guys would be jealous to be in my position, heheheh."

"You know, I wouldn't care if she were your girlfriend." Mrs. Tainaka mentioned casually.

"Wha-?" Ritsu was shocked at what her mom just said. "That's… why would you say that?"

She shrugged. "She seems like such a sweet girl. She obviously cares for you a lot, and admires nobody more. Plus, she seems like the type that could take of you and never break your heart. It's getting harder and harder to find guys like that these days."

Now just a little uncomfortable, Ritsu shifted nervously where she sat. "I guess it's cool that you're open to that kind of thing but, mom, I'm not gay. I'm pretty sure that Mugi is fully aware of that."

"I hope that's true."

Ritsu cringed, she had more or less just confessed Mugi's deepest secret with the utmost casualness. She agreed with her mother's words though, and certainly hoped it was true too. Yes, Mugi was a great friend, as sweet as they came, and would make a near perfect significant other. However, Ritsu had her placed thoroughly in a deep, dark hole called 'the friend zone'. Hopefully, _hopefully_, Mugi didn't like her, and that everything that pointed towards that being true was just the work of Ritsu's overactive, strained mind. _Hopefully_, she wouldn't have to turn the blonde down, and this friend zone would exist without any sort of problems. With how much of a date this night was beginning to look like, Ritsu wasn't confident that this was going to end with Mugi's feelings unhurt. She didn't want to be the first one to reject her and break her heart, she really, really didn't. The thing was though; Ritsu didn't mind some degree of affection and admiration from Mugi either. The praise and near worship was flattering, and made her feel fluffy inside. A sisterly, close relationship wasn't a bad one. She could see them being roommates, close friends, and hell, even cuddling up to watch a scary movie if the mood was right. Kissing and clothes coming off is where she drew the line. Actually, the line was probably broader, encompassing a whole brand of emotions along with physical contact.

_God, why does this have to be so complicated? I don't care if Mugi is gay, but I don't want to be her crush. She wasn't this affectionate in high school towards anyone. Why can't she like anyone else but me? Stupid Mio, why does she have to be taken already? _

Swallowing her worried thoughts, she was finally able to piece together a suitable outfit. A skirt that went halfway down to her knees and a button-up dress shirt that fit pretty comfortably. It was a strange blend of feminine, yet handsome in a masculine sense. Her school shoes fit the outfit so well, and went great with a pair of high socks. Looking the bathroom mirror, she couldn't help but feel a little sexy. She looked like she was ready to go film a fancy music video with her friends (if they were all still alive).

She thanked her mother again, mostly for not dressing her like a clown, and went downstairs to meet Mugi and finalize on plans. What could Mugi be wearing for such a night? Ritsu knew she had packed quite a few outfits for the trip, but would she have prepared for a fancy evening out? Maybe they would have to leave and go find something for her. Hopefully Mugi would already have something in mind so they wouldn't have to spend too long dress shopping. Despite her natural born anatomy, Ritsu didn't find particularly girly things all that enjoyable. No ribbons and ponies for her.

Mugi gave a quick, surprised gasp when she saw Ritsu, and asked, "Oh, are we leaving already?"

She was wearing what she had been all day.

"No, no, I was just finding something to wear so I wouldn't hold us up later." Ritsu told her. "When are we leaving, anyway?"

"Well, the place I want to go sometimes has a long wait… so, maybe in about two hours?" Mugi suggested. It was 2 p.m. then. "You look so nice and cool now! Let's see, the mall is…" She began quietly counting numbers on her fingers, trying to figure out whether or not she could get there and back and make purchase in time. "Okay, it would be close, but if I catch the bus at just the right time, I could get something really nice to wear too!"

"M-Mugi, don't do that!" Ritsu had to stop her. She was already heading for the door. "Whatever you wear, it'll be fine, _trust me_."

"I didn't prepare for this though; I don't have anything to wear." Mugi pouted, distraught.

"You have to have _something_, I mean; you're way more fashionable than I am."

"I do have that white sundress, but it's so cloudy out."

Ritsu thought for a moment, and then came up with a solution. "Then you can just borrow my jacket while we're outside. It was pretty windy out, so this is a must!"

"What about you, won't you be cold?" Mugi asked.

Ritsu shook her head, and pinched one of her sleeves. "Long sleeve shirt, I'll be fine."

**RITSU'S PRIMI PIATTI**

As they walked to this upper class restaurant, Ritsu felt a little silly with how she was dressed. She looked _too_ formal all of a sudden, probably more so than she ever had outside of some kind of important ceremony. It was a good thing she wasn't wearing makeup or it would be _too_ over the top. Mugi on the other hand, looked so casual and natural in her white sundress with the narrow straps, and dark leather jacket over it. She wore sandals, with her nails glossed. Thankfully, the sky had been kind, and didn't unleash rain upon them. It was still windy, but more humid than before, and just a little warmer.

Mugi wasn't even sure she really needed a jacket, but it was too much of a great gesture to pass it up.

She had been right about the wait to get into that fancy Italian place. It took them nearly forty five minutes to get seated. They sat together outside on a bench with a little buzzer that would ring when their table was ready. Their seat was good, right under an awning that kept them in the shade, and let them watch the sun slowly begin to set. Mugi sat close to Ritsu, their hips just touching, and the two of them barely felt the passing of time as they waited. They talked and caught up on a lot of things. There was a lot of reminiscing about Sakuragaoka, and the amazing times they had. Laughing at when Ritsu through the beach ball in Mio's face, Mugi's frantic phone calls about quality assurance dealing with the complimentary beach houses. Little things like that they wouldn't ever forget.

Yui was mentioned scarcely, and Azusa even less…

With those forty-five minutes passing in the blink of an eye at gray dusk, they were seated. They had a booth against the window, giving them a decent view of a well tended to, traditional garden outside. The food may have been Mediterranean in nature, but the vibe of the eatery was extremely Japanese. The people around them were dressed nicely, but this wasn't a suit or kimono type of place. It felt like the two of them fit in just fine.

The only problem was, the menu was in Italian. Suddenly, Ritsu felt like a foreigner in her own country, having to point at pictures in a menu to their waiter. Thankfully, the waiter was Japanese and pleasantly helped them decipher the menu and order what they wanted. The food was also as expensive as Ritsu assumed it would be, but Mugi was there to happily pay for the whole bill, with a sizable tip as well. Something told Ritsu that this didn't hurt Mugi's wallet in the slightest.

Ritsu went with what _looked_ like spaghetti with a delicious mushroom sauce, but she couldn't be sure exactly what kind of pasta it was. Her knowledge on the variations of pasta was sufficiently lacking. Mugi went with something lighter, a vegetable soup with a side of salad and cheese. She left the cheese mostly untouched.

As they ate, Mugi struck up constant conversation with Ritsu about so many things. It flowed so naturally, one topic shifting to another seamlessly. With candles lit between them, they talked about what music they had gotten into; what musicians they like; which idols they followed or which ones Ritsu didn't like and told humorous anecdotes about (all of which Mugi laughed at). They talked about getting together to jam sometime, and maybe even dabble in other genres of rock just for fun. Mugi talked about some of the classical pieces she had learned to play masterfully, and Ritsu talked about how George Kollias' drum lesson DVDs had done wonders to improve her speed, performance, accuracy, tempo, and endurance. She also made it a point that she _did not_ like the band _Nile_. It made Ritsu wonder, how hard would it be to find another guitarist? Would it really be disrespectful to replace the two deceased ones? How many other bands had to get a whole new lineup because one musician met an accident? _Metallica_ got by without Cliff Burton for a couple albums, and _Vader_ pretty much had half their members killed in an accident but continued to play live shows and put out albums. Besides, Azusa and Yui would probably _want_ them to continue on. Ritsu almost wanted to bring this up with Mugi, but felt like it would dampen the pleasant mood between them.

Dinner was finished, and in the spirit of old, they each had a slice of cake with a cup of tea before leaving. It was an after school tea time, truly, but just between the two of them. Ritsu saw in Mugi's eyes that she was as happy as could be, and that sense of happiness was infectious. The awful truth she learned earlier that day, the nightmare the day before, it was all so distant all of a sudden. It was like those had happened in dreams, and were completely gone as she happily enjoyed this evening in the waking world.

After paying the bill, the two of them left and headed for the cinema. It was a bit of a walk, but certainly manageable. It was dark out now, with the stars just visible through the curtain of light produced by modern civilization. The temperature had dropped substantially, but there was no sign of rain anymore. Mugi was feeling a little bold, and leaned her head against Ritsu's shoulder while holding her arm as they walked. Ritsu thought it was cute, but wasn't completely, one-hundred percent comfortable with it. Her mind kept attributing it to things that were unfair to think. Heck, Mugi would probably do the same thing if Ritsu was a guy. She was just an affectionate person, that was all there was.

_At least, I hope that's all there is to her…_

"Thanks for going out with me, Ricchan, I'm having great time." Mugi broke the silence between them.

_Did she just say I'm going out with her? Wait, of course she did because that's exactly what I'm doing. We're going out to dinner as friends. When Mio said things like, "Ritsu, let's go out and see that band playing…" she didn't mean it like we were going on a date. Why do I keep thinking things like this?_

"You're the one that paid, I should be thanking you." Ritsu cleverly retorted.

"You're very welcome, Ricchan." Mugi giggled, seemingly ecstatic then and there. "The food was great, and you're so much fun to talk to. You know so many cool things that I don't know. Like how you can use _two_ bass pedals for drumming to keep rhythm with faster tempos. That's incredible; I always thought drummers like Mike Portnoy just used one foot really fast!"

Ritsu laughed at that. "I don't even think the fastest drummers can go beyond 16th notes with one foot. I can't do eighths, but tires my leg out really fast. Speed doesn't make you a good drummer though, it's all about the song writing and how consistent you are about playing it. It's kind of like how Herman Lee can play guitar really fast, but he's a sloppy drunken mess on stage. See, that's what I want to do, be the best, most versatile drummer I can be!"

"You're already the best drummer I've ever played with." Mugi chimed in, even if her compliment really didn't hold in weight. It was sweet though.

"Mio was right though, when we played live, I was usually just a little too fast." She admitted. "I think I got that corrected, at least with practice. It's too easy for me to get carried away. Back before I got my electric kit in my apartment, I shattered one of the cymbals on my normal kit trying to learn the song _Painkiller _by _Judas Priest_. It has one of the coolest drum intros ever."

"You shattered a metal cymbal?" Mugi gasped in surprise.

Ritsu sheepishly nodded. "Yeah, it was the crash. The thing was really old anyway. I was able to get a good replacement for pretty cheap. I need to get a good Iron Cobra pedal, since the normal one I have is starting to wear out…"

"Wow, there's so much to drums I didn't know." The blonde said in amazement. "It's like when Azusa-chan tried to explain to me all the really cool things you good do with down tuning and up tuning a guitar. Like how she told me that you could effectively have two ranges of tunings to play in with a seven-string guitar. She also taught me once how to build scales and chords with a guitar and it was so much more complicated than it is on a piano."

"It's kind of surprising she wasn't a good songwriter with how much she knew." Ritsu sighed. "I guess she was more of a session musician, but the perfect one for our band. You know, I saw a practice space in Tokyo for real cheap when I was still university. I thought, 'wow, I should rent this out for a weekend and we can all play together'. This was after Yui was gone, and Azusa was distant. Maybe if I had done that… then maybe… she wouldn't be so lonely, and then-"

"Don't let yourself think thoughts like that." Mugi cut her off. "We both have a lot of 'what ifs' about Azusa, about Yui, and most of all about _Afterschool Tea Time_. I think we have to smile at the good memories, and look forward. It's not the end of the world, we have each other, and I know Mio is still in love with music. So, please Ricchan, don't ever blame yourself."

"Mugi…" Ritsu was unsure what to say. She had a point, blaming herself was just going to have her dwelling sadly in the past, unable to move on. That was what Azusa had done, and it the suffering had eaten her. Ritsu wasn't going to let that happen to her, or any of her friends. She would remember the happy memories, and just move on. Albeit, it was going to be difficult with everything she learned about an incinerated village and things that hid in the woods. Before the other Azusa had died, she told Ritsu to take Mugi and _leave_. That was exactly what she was going to do in the next day or two, just _leave_ with her.

Ahead, they saw the bright neon lights of the cinema beckoning them. With it came the promise of big screen thrills, eyes strained with those awful 3D glasses so many movies had, and wallets being emptied in the wake of severely over priced snacks. The joke was on them, Ritsu smugly thought, they had already eaten. The lure of tasty snacks was going to fail on them.

"Oh what should we see?" Mugi wondered as they approached the box office. She glanced up at all the shows playing and asked about the first one, "Do you know what _Falling Stars _is about?"

"It's over the top grimdark with some badly done romance plot shoved in." Ritsu answered. "Let's see something else."

"_Long Way Home_?"

"Eh, maybe, I heard the director really shoehorned his music tastes in, and they're kind of awful."

"Oh, I see, what about _The Dead Music Club_?"

"I filled my zombie movie quota for life already."

"_And Forever It Shall Be_?"

"Mio said her boyfriend dragged her to that one and she threw up in the theater because it was so gory and disgusting. Film critics say it's pointless gory trash and the people who enjoyed are just children who like to see the color red."

"Yikes!" Mugi gasped. "Hmm, I don't really feel like watching an anime movie… What's _Chooser of the Slain_?"

"More like _Plot Holes of the Slain_. It's some four hour movie where nothing gets resolves, the plot makes no sense, and it feels like ten separate people wrote various parts of the script without any communication between them. It's basically _AMON AMARTH SONG: THE MOVIE_. Huh, looks like _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo _is still playing. I'm all for movies based off Swedish crime novels, plus, Trent Reznor did the soundtrack for this. Too bad it's not dubbed yet."

"I don't mind subtitles." Mugi told her. "A crime movie sounds exciting!"

"Well, doesn't look like anything besides all those French chick flicks is playing." With that, they went to purchase two tickets.

As they were purchasing some steeply priced drinks for the show (diet soda for Mugi, obviously) Ritsu wondered if Mugi would have been more interested in seeing one of the French romance movies that were constantly playing. She knew some girls in Sakuragaoka that would drool over French movies and pop stars, but she had no idea of Mugi was into that kind of stuff at all. In fact, she realized just how little she knew about Mugi in general. The blonde probably knew a lot about Ritsu already just from staying with her for a little while and asking so many questions. Ritsu realized she didn't know Mugi's birthday; hardly any of her favorite things; what she was majoring in; what she did for fun by herself; or anything about that one girl named Sumire who occasionally came up in conversation. These were things that needed to be corrected, Ritsu decided.

**OPEN HEARTS…**

"The jacket Lisbeth bought at the end was the same one you have." Mugi commented as they left the movie theatre together.

"Was it? I didn't even notice." Ritsu glanced at her leather jacket Mugi was wearing. The one she had was a cheap thing she bought at a thrift store, the one in the movie had been expensive, but they were pretty similar. She hadn't paid that much attention to the movie, due to her thoughts being a scattered mess unable to focus. Half of her was still stuck on everything that had happened involving Azusa's death and horrifying revelations. She kept trying to force it all from her mind, but it kept coming back with a cloud of confusion, and with it, the longing for answers. No matter what she did, Ritsu couldn't help but wish knew exactly what this all meant. Why had a supposedly dead woman drag them out of the forest and lead her on the trail for answers with those documents? Was Ayumu for or against the Entity of Suffering and everything around it? Was this Ayumu the parallel version of the dead one like the other Azusa had been?

Beyond that, Mugi had continued to be touchy-feely with her the whole movie. This was getting to be too much for Ritsu, and she was on the verge of telling Mugi to back off just a little bit. It was making her uncomfortable. The blonde had continued to lean on her during the duller parts, and even held her hand during the sweeter, more romantic parts. That last part was what ate Ritsu up the most, and left her feeling horribly uncomfortable. She wanted to believe Mugi was just an extraordinarily clingy friend, but it was getting harder and harder to convince herself that was the case. It got worse then at that very moment. Ritsu felt Mugi lean against her, and lace their fingers as she held her hand. Ritsu want to move away, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Is there anything else you want to do before we go home?" Mugi asked her. Her voice was soft, and an almost dreamlike quality to it, like she was walking on clouds.

"N-No." Ritsu found it hard to reply straight. They walked down the dark streets alone, and she found herself wishing there were other people there; for a multitude of reasons.

"I had a really good time tonight." The blonde told her in that same wispy, happy tone. "It's so sad this had to happen after we learned about Azusa-chan. If that wasn't on our minds, this would have been the best night of my life."

"Oh come on, you can't have enjoyed yourself _that_ much." Ritsu found herself forcing a smile. She prayed Mugi really was just exaggerating.

"You'd be surprised. I don't get out very much, or at all lately, so this was a really fun night for me. Staying with you has been the best time I've had since we all split up. Even with the bad things we learned, I'm still enjoying myself. Thank you again for having me."

"Anytime. Hopefully next time we can get Mio here too, I'd bet she'd like that."

Mugi sighed, "I think I liked it more with just the two of us…"

_Why did she have to say that? Come on Mugi; give me some breathing room here! _

"…T-There was something I wanted to ask you." The blonde continued, suddenly nervous.

_Oh no, please don't let this be what I think it's going to be! Please ask me something like if you can be my roommate, or for me to pay your back for tonight's expenses. Let it be something normal friends ask each other!_

"Remember wh-when I told you that I liked girls, and s-said there was something I admired?" She asked Ritsu, her voice quaking with nervousness.

"Yeah?" Ritsu replied, now terrified of where this conversation was going.

Mugi stopped walking, and stepped in front of Ritsu. She put her arms around the drummer's midsection and looked her in the eyes. "Ricchan… I like you, more than just a really close friend. You're so cool and sexy and I can't stop thinking about you every second of every day now. P-Please, would you be my girlfriend?"

_God fucking damn it Mugi, WHY?_

Ritsu slowly shook her head and put on a neutral face. "Mugi, you… you don't want me as your girlfriend. You could easily find someone who makes you happier; I'm not all that great."

She tried to move away Mugi's soft embrace, but she held her strong. Her blue eyes were threatening tears and almost distraught, she told Ritsu, "There isn't anyone else I want! I'm always happy when I'm with you, and I really think we would be the happiest couple in the world. Nobody else likes you the way I do, so please… please say yes!"

"I can't." Ritsu was more firm this time, and broke out of her embrace with strong step back. She felt like absolute shit for ruining Mugi's first confession, but she wasn't going to say yes just to make her happy. Getting into a relationship with someone from a gender she wasn't attracted to was only going to end in absolutely disaster and heartache. Calmly, she said, "I'm sorry Mugi. I just don't like you that way. I think you're sweet and would make an amazing girlfriend for extremely lucky lady, but that's not me."

"No, I'm sorry, Ricchan." Mugi sniffled once, and the levees broke. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as her face turned red. "This was really stupid of me to ask, and I've made things weird between us. I should have just been happy with what you gave me, why did I have to try and ask for me?"

"You're still my friend, and even if you have, er, feelings for me, that doesn't change that fact. If you want, I'll just forget you even said anything and we can go on like nothing happened."

Mugi shook her head at Ritsu's offer. "N-No, I don't think it can be that way now… Why did I have to ruin such a good thing?"  
>"Look, I don't think any differently of you." Ritsu stepped back close to her after lying. She <em>did<em> think differently of Mugi now, and the blonde had been right. Things _were_ different between them, and probably wouldn't be the same. All Ritsu could think now was, _Why me? Why not all those other beautiful girls that would jump at the chance to be with her? There have to be plenty; Mugi would make a great girlfriend if I liked girls._

"I think I need some time alone…" Mugi began walking off quickly, her sandals echoing off the pavement. She stopped, and took off Ritsu's jacket. She practically shoved it into Ritsu's arms. "S-Sorry for taking this too."

"Mugi, stop this." Ritsu groaned. "It's not you, it's me, don't start acting so sad all of a sudden." She went to follow Mugi, but that just made her walk faster, eventually picking up into a jog.

"I said I need to be alone!" She cried, trying to get away from Ritsu. She kicked off her sandals, and ran away barefoot into the night.

Ritsu stood there holding her jacket. Her eyes shifted from the blonde hairs resting on the jacket's shoulders, and to the two discarded sandals sitting on the sidewalks. Slowly, she gathered up the two pieces of footwear and cursed herself over and over again in her head. She felt like such a cold hearted bitch for what she had just done there, but what other options did she have? Was there truly any other way to do that without hurting Mugi more, or making things worse in the long run? Now, above all else she was worried about Mugi going off alone. She came to the corner Mugi had disappeared at, had no idea where she had gone. Shadows from the forest weren't the only thing Ritsu had to worry about. There were very real threats in the streets at night. How could she forgive herself is something happened to Mugi? A beautiful blonde running around barefoot at night?

Sighing, she took out her cell phone and sent the heartbroken girl a text message.

"_Be careful by yourself okay. I'm really sorry."_

She hoped nothing bad would happen to her, but her previous actions would certainly have consequences…

**MUGI GOES ALONE…**

Tsumugi couldn't stop the tears from coming. Her heart was broken and her soul felt shattered. Self-loathing, a previously unknown emotion for her, rose and ate away at her mind like a black miasma of doubt. She had been so happy the way things were, and lost it all in a stupid gamble she should have known better to instigate. Ritsu had made it perfectly clear that she didn't like girls, and yet she had gone and taken that stupid risk. She knew that Ritsu wouldn't ever look at her the same. She couldn't ever get close to the drummer like she had been able to do that night so many times. Ritsu would surely see her as a freak and a pervert if she did.

Walking aimlessly through street to street, Mugi found herself wishing she had just been born normal. Why did she have to like Ritsu so much more than a friend? All those fantasies she had prior to asking her now seemed so foolish and pathetic. She had fantasized about Ritsu saying yes, happily admitting her like feelings as well, then the two of them kissing under starlight. Then they would retire to a night of kissing and cuddling wit Ritsu telling her how beautiful she was and how happy the two of them were going to be.

_I told myself I should just forget above the stuff I read in manga. Girls can't get girls like they do in those pages, it's all a lie. People like me don't get beautiful girlfriends; we just get to settle for being lonely. It doesn't matter, I'm sure my father will find some 'perfect' husband for me, one whose parents are part of some big company that can get him a lot of money._

A tinge of worry flared in her as the sound of a car slowing down sounded behind her. She turned around to see the headlights of a black sedan nearly blinding her. There was insurmountable relief when Mugi saw it was just a single woman driving. Those stories of kidnappings weren't foreign to her. Her eyes adjusted and the car door opened. Out stepped a woman in black jeans with a t-shirt with a design for the band _Altar of Plagues_. Her dark hair was wavy and uncombed, and went down to her shoulder blades. What caught Mugi's attention the most were her peculiar blue eyes.

"C-Can I help you?" Mugi asked after quickly drying her eyes with the back of her arm. She wanted so desperately not to look like she was just crying.

"Hey sweetheart, remember me?" The girl asked with a charming smiled.

"You're… Ayumu, Yumi-chan, right?"

"Uh-huh." Ayumu smiled and nodded. "Looks to me like you need a ride."

"I don't know…" Mugi felt like something here was inherently wrong. She wasn't sure exactly what it was though.

Ayumu reached back into the car and picked something up, something Mugi couldn't see. The street was devoid of any people, and world devoid of any sounds. All of a sudden, Mugi felt terrified, and some primal part of her was screaming to turn and run. She took a step back, but heard the sound of a metallic click. She looked at Ayumu, who was now casually pointing a Glock-17 pistol at her, with the slide locked back.

"No," Her smile turned cruel. "I don't think you understand. Looks to me like you need a ride."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	8. Sisyphean

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART EIGHT**

**SISYPHEAN**

"_In an instant, Azusa was sprinting away down the muddy trail. It hadn't been muddy up to that point, but it was now. She wanted to scream from what she saw. Scream and run the other direction. Instead she pushed forward, with no idea as to where she was going. Mud splashed from beneath her and stuck to her bare legs in little brown splatters; it wasn't enough to make her regret wearing shorts though. Eventually she calmed down and stopped running. Panting, she took a rest, grasping her knees, and looked around._

_No trail anymore._"

-Taken from _Feeding a Dream_

**MUGI TAKES A RIDE…**

"My father's very rich. Please, he'll pay you anything, just let me go!" Mugi pleaded, trying her best to look brave. It wasn't working, tears of fear were streaming down her face, and her sniffling betrayed her attempt at a stoic pose.

"Wouldn't this world be fucking great if money solved our problems?" Ayumu shook her head, driving with one hand and holding the gun against her lap. She laughed once and continued. "Shit, I don't think having all that much money would be cool anyway. If I were a dude, chicks would be all over my dick if that were the case, but nope. I mean, you're filthy fuckin' rich and look at you, you've never had anyone want you. Don't that hurt?"

Mugi said nothing, and stared at her bare feet resting against the host of fast food wrappers at the bottom of the car.

"Your one chance and you fuckin' blew it." Ayumu laughed at her, making Mugi silently cry harder. "Oh don't feel too bad, I think you're cute, but you ain't for me. In fact, you should be thanking me! I got something big planned for you, or, more like _he_ does."

_Oh god, I'm going to get raped… _Mugi thought and felt herself nearly faint. She wished she had. She wished harder Ayumu would crash, or accidently shoot herself. Why did she run away from Ritsu or ignore the warning the text message gave? Avoiding her best friend because of being an idiot wasn't worth this. Her mind remembered a news story a while back where a woman was kidnapped, raped and tortured nearly every single day of a month and a half. The kidnappers became celebrities, showing up on talk shows and getting all sorts of recognition. Was that her fate? Becoming a piece of meat the enabled others to become the idols of guro artists? What a miserable end for such a happy, smiling girl…

"What I don't get is you managed to stay this pure and sweet with how goddamned sexy you are." The black-haired kidnapper continued. "Shit, if this were like America, Australia, or fucking wherever, you'd probably have been fucked by at least a dozen guys by now. That's being generous with how shy you are. But, if that happened, you'd probably be less shy so let's bump that number on up to like, thirty. Face it, girls these days are all sluts and whores. Me, I'm a forever alone permavirgin who shouldn't even be here right now."

_What's her point? Why is she saying all these awful things?_

"And it's kinda sad that you got the goods, but'll never get to use them." Without warning, Ayumu reached over with her left hand and groped Mugi's right breast. Mugi was more terrified than offended, being that she still had the pistol in her hand. It was dangling off her pinkie finger by the trigger guard. Mugi prayed the safety was on, and wished she was brave enough to make a grab for it. Instead she sat there crying as she was forcefully groped for a few seconds. She felt Ayumu's fingers moving in a pinching motion, like she was hunting for a nipple hidden beneath the guard of a bra. The blonde felt a heavy feeling of relief when Ayumu returned her hand and went back to driving.

"Hey cutie, are you hungry? Thirsty? There's a 7-11 right up here and ho shit could I go for a Dr. Pepper right now. Think of this like, the last meal people get before riding the lightning, if you know what I mean."

"…" Mugi raised her head up. "…I don't want anything."

"Well, suit your merry self then." Ayumu kept up her uncomfortably pleasant tone. Ahead, the lights of a 7-11 store sitting at a corner came into view. Sadly, the parking lot was devoid of anyone else, and all the roads around were empty as well. Mugi wondered how Ayumu was going to do this. Was she going to drag Mugi in with her? Or was she going to leave her in the car and hope she didn't run off. The driver parked the car in a dark corner of the parking lot, obscured mostly by shadows. She stopped the engine and opened the door, setting the handgun in the space between the two front seats.

"How far do you think you'd get if you started running as soon as I turned my back?" Ayumu smirked. "I know you're too soft to even think about picking up that gun. You're afraid that you'd accidently set it off and smear your fucking brains all over the roof of my car."

Mugi's breath stopped for a moment. That had been _exactly_ what she was afraid of.

Ayumu continued while stepping out of the car. "Now you beautiful, _beautiful_ little girl, you just stay put while your pal Yumi-chan gets something to drink. God damn it you look so cute when you're on the verge of pissing yourself from fear. That'd actually be kind of cute, soiling my car! Now just wait here and be a good girl, 'cause you could survive a bullet to the leg for longer than you'd think. Tell me sweetie, do you want to get shot? I didn't think so."

The black-haired girl happily set off to buy carbonated, teeth rotting beverages, leaving Mugi alone in the dark there. Part of her considered making a sprint for safety somewhere, but was terrified of being shot. She was too afraid that Ayumu would react to the noise of the car door opening with how quiet everything was. Thinking fast, she felt for cell phone in her pocket and thought hard about who to call. While a normal, rational thinking person would call the police in a situation like that, Mugi quickly tried to call the last person to send her a text message…

**RITSU GETS A PHONE CALL…**

_Where is she?_

_ It's getting late and I've sent her like three texts… I should probably go looking for her._

_ Why did it have to be like this? Mugi you're such a cool person, but I don't want to be your girlfriend. _

Mugi sat at the edge of her old bed, the one Mugi had been sleeping on for the last couple of days. Her mother had come in and washed the sheets while they were gone, and put a fresh comforter underneath them. It was incredibly soft, and for some reason she had added more pillows to the bed as well. Either Mugi had ridiculous standards with pillows, or Ritsu's mother was expecting this bed to be shared. Ritsu shook that creepy thought from her mind and yawned. She had to admit, sleeping with Mugi that other night had been rather nice, but that was strictly platonic. It was a shame it hadn't happened on that bed there, with how soft and comfortable it was…

Her phone rang its custom ringtone, the opening drum beat for the song _March of the Pigs_ by _Nine Inch Nails_ played on her electronic drums, recorded, and looped. She picked it up and answered with standard Japanese, "Moshi-moshi." Without even looking to see who was calling.

"_Ricchan!_" Mugi's distraught whispering voice rang in her ears. "_I… I need help, b-before s-she comes back. S-She has a g-gun and-_"

"Whoa, slow down, tell me where you are." Ritsu told her with an air of bravery and authority in her voice that had come from police training.

"_The parking lot of a… 7-11 I think it's called. P-Please, hurry!_"

Ritsu was strangely calm and rational, but knew this would go away when her adrenaline faded. Keeping her cool, she realized that Mugi was too distraught and panicked to provide straight answers. She prayed she had a few minutes to get some real information out of her. Taking a deep breath, she then asked, "Mugi do you know where you're being taken to?"

"_H-Her house… I think… I don't know!_"

"Hold on, who is _she_?"

Ritsu cringed when she heard Mugi give a quick yelp, followed by the sounds of static as the phone was wrestled out of her hands. In the background, Ritsu could hear a car engine starting, and then an all too familiar voice spoke through Mugi's phone.

"_Looks like this little cutie can't come to the phone right now. Hope your last words were sweet goodbyes. Later._"

Silence echoed in Ritsu's ear as Ayumu hung up. Her calm shattered and was replaced wholly by another emotion. Not fear, anxiety, or guilt, but _anger_. Ritsu's blood was boiling at Mugi getting dragged into this mess. She checked the time, it was just past nine, and her father had gotten home some thirty minutes ago. This meant the car was available. Now all Ritsu had to do was try to remember where this bitch lived and go crash the party. The rational side of her brain told her to call the police, report a kidnapping of this rich man's daughter and have that prefecture and the surrounding ones hunting her down….

…but Ritsu knew this wasn't going to work like that. How exactly did one hunt for the dead? Maybe what the priest said had just been a misunderstanding, maybe it was some other Ayumu who died, or maybe his information was wrong. Or maybe Ritsu was done trying to rationalize the impossible, because that was exactly all there was to it. The fact of the matter was someone who should be dead was now alive and stealing blonde lesbians. And Ritsu had to go play hero and get her back. She'd need a few things though if this heroic rescue was going to work.

First off, if Ayumu was armed with a gun like Mugi said, Ritsu was going to need something to defend herself with. She hoped that this wasn't a real gun by any means, but instead something like an airsoft gun, or even a toy. Ritsu remembered learning at the academy that people would hold up convenience stores with fake guns and were able to pass them off as real ones. Or they would be unloaded and just a prop to scare people. Guns weren't easy to get in Japan, and Ritsu was almost ready to just assume the one Ayumu supposedly had wasn't a threat. She decided to pay a visit to her brother's room, opening the door without knocking.

"Need something?" Satoshi asked in a snide tone, looking up from his computer. He was sitting in his underwear along with a shirt, and Ritsu silently thanked any deity listening that he wasn't doing what teenage boys did alone in front of the computer at night. Walking in on that once was already horrible enough. He looked up at his sister, and was using his left hand to alt-tab to his internet browser before hitting the hot key to bring up a blank, new tab.

"Remember that switchblade your friend got you for your birthday?" Ritsu asked him. "Do you still have that, or did mom make you throw it out?"

"I still have it, why?"

"I need it."

"Why do you need my swit-"

"Police girl business, don't ask. Now where is it?" Her interrupting and tone of voice told Satoshi that his sister wasn't fucking around here. Something told Satoshi she wasn't going to leave without it; and she was also certainly stronger and a better fighter than he was. Not wanting to get beat up by his sister, Satoshi gave in without question, reaching to open one of the drawers at his computer desk. He went through the junk drawer, going through crumpled up papers, dead batteries, food wrappers and the like until he found the folded up knife.

He tossed it to Ritsu and asked, "So, what exactly are you doing? Maybe it's just me, but when someone rushes into my room looking freaked out and wants a knife, I get a little worried. It's not the zombie apocalypse now is it? Because if it is, I got this really good plan here. See, what I-"

Ritsu caught the blade and let him ramble a few seconds before cutting him off. "I'll bring this back later. Thanks."

With that, she closed the door and pocketed the blade before heading downstairs. Now she needed a way to follow Mugi and Ayumu, and the fastest way to do that would to be go by car. Down in the living room her mother and father were sitting near the TV, talking about some thing or another. Without thinking, Ritsu interrupted them.

"Dad, I need the keys for the car."

"Excuse me?" He nearly gasped at his daughter's rude suddenness.

"My friend and I had a blowout, it's late, and I need to go pick her up, alright?" She gave him a quick summary that wasn't exactly a lie.

Her mother looked at worriedly and asked, "A blowout? What do you mean?"

"We… uh, got into a disagreement about something and she stormed off. It was my fault and now she's wandering around late at night. Please dad, I won't leave a scratch on the car and will pay for gas!" Ritsu pleaded.

Unsure, Mr. Tainaka bit his lower lip. "I don't know… Can't your friend call a taxi if it's this late? I thought she was rich. Your mother was telling me about how she paid for the two of you to go to a fancy restaurant and see a movie."

"She couldn't get a hold of one." Ritsu lied. "She's with a, uh, friend right now. It's not a good friend though, it's one who does drugs and listens to death metal."

"Those are the kinds of people you hang out with now?" Her father scowled.

"No, no, no, no!" Ritsu defensively waved her arms. "She wasn't like this the last time we talked to her, so we didn't really know. Come on dad, I really need the car!"

"Fine, fine, fine!" He pulled the keys from his pocket and threw them Ritsu's way. "I'm not happy about this at all. If you come home and I find out you even _looked_ at alcohol or pot while you're gone, your ass is _out_ of this house! Understand me?"

"Yeah, love you too." Ritsu grumbled, already heading for the door. If this trip ended up getting her killed by otherworldly forces, she was certainly happy to know she left her home on good terms with everyone. She stepped outside into the dark and cold, and was just positive her dad would start ranting about how much of a fucking disappointment she was as soon as the car pulled out of the driveway. The car in question was a red 2012 Toyota Camry, almost brand spankin' new too.

_We pushed her to study hard and get into both of those chick schools, and she ended up a lesbian who borrows our car to go hang out with drug dealing friends while taking the hypocritical oath of a police officer. I don't know about you honey, but I'm sure as hell not inviting her home for the holidays this year!_

Yeah, something like that, Ritsu thought. She unlocked the car doors, slid into the driver's seat, and closed the door. It had been awhile since she had last driven, and she needed to take a moment to mentally go over all the basic procedures. First things first, she had to adjust the seat and mirror to her own size before starting the car. Upon turning the key she was greeted by the loud music of _The Door's Riders on the Storm_. Ritsu almost had to laugh at the seemingly contrived irony behind that song playing. Her dad had left the greatest hits CD in, and Ritsu let the song play before just turning the CD player off.

_Morrison, like always, you find a way to speak the truth…_

In silence, Ritsu drove on and was just able to remember the area where Ayumu had lived. She hoped that was where the two of them would be, since she really didn't have any other leads. She didn't remember the exact address, but the area was pretty distinct, and the house had been isolated. It was dark and eerie out, with no other cars or sign of life. This was a bit of a blessing though, since it was just green light after green light. The luck of the lights finally gave out when she reached the edge of the town, right where the rolling hills and forests Ayumu lived by were. She hit a red light, which was strange since there didn't seem to be any cars coming from either direction. She was tempted to run it, but couldn't bring herself to commit even the most petty of victimless crimes (even if she was technically carrying an illegal concealed weapon).

Standing at the corner of the road was a man around Ritsu's age with black jeans and a dark blue hooded sweatshirt. The hood was up, and he was slowly walking towards the car. The light remained red, and Ritsu's hand went into her pocket, feeling for the switchblade. This kid was in for a sore surprise if he tried to start anything. Self-defense was a crucial part of her police training.

"Hey!" He tried to get her attention. The window was barely rolled down, and Ritsu was keeping it that way. "Where you headin'? I need a ride."

"Just picking up a friend, find someone else." Ritsu replied with a bit of an edge on her voice. The light remained red, despite the lack of any traffic.

"Come on, I could really fancy a ride." He took a step closer, reaching for the locked driver side door. In his other hand, Ritsu could see the dark shape of a knife.

"Fuck off." Ritsu couldn't believe she had just said that. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to just floor it and leave this guy in the dust, just because of the red light. "My friend's in trouble and I'm a cop."

"If you don't behave and let me in, _you're_ going to be in trouble." He reached for the locked door and went to open it. Much to Ritsu's shock, it _did_ open, but she reacted immediately. Her hand grabbed the door handle, pulling it back and stopping him from opening it and possibly filleting her like a fish with that knife. Finally breaking her fear of red colored traffic lights, she slammed on the gas and sent the bastard stumbling back. Tires screeched and Ritsu slammed the door, now knowing not to stop for _anything_. This was too close to be a coincidence.

She had made it three-fourths of the way across the intersection before the sound of a blaring car horn nearly made her jump out of her skin. An SUV, that had seemingly appeared from nowhere zoomed across the intersection, slamming into the left taillight of the car. The car shook once, and Ritsu felt a dark pit of despair form in her gut as the taillight was shattered and the rear of the car was dented in. The rear end slid across the pavement, bumping into the curb. Ritsu held onto the wheel for dear life and almost wished the accident had just killed her. Why? Because her dad was going to finish the job when she got home.

Now, the man with the knife was running across the intersection too, planning to finish her while she was down. Panicking, Ritsu floored the gas again, making the tires screech, and quickly turned the wheel to get her going straight again. The carjacker was just reaching for the door when she took off, leaving behind him, dust, and the shattered remains of her dad's taillight in a broken pile of glass and chipped red paint.

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, this is really bad! I don't know if his insurance covers this if I'm the one driving… Oh god, he's going to strangle me! There's no way he's going to believe that I was trying to speed away from a carjacker and was hit by an SUV zooming in from nowhere!_

She looked in the rearview mirror, and saw the guy was now just a little shadow far behind her. At least that problem was passed, and she could focus on the one ahead; the one with Mugi in captivity. Clouds were moving in overhead now, blocking out the moon and stars, and surely promised rain. Chances were the forecasters who predicted sunny skies were now out of a job, and their kids didn't get to eat three meals a day anymore. The trees silhouetted against the dark hills against the side of the road were eerie things. Ritsu swore some of them twisted and moved unnaturally, and she was beginning to become scared that she was back in that nightmare world. Maybe it was just the wind moving them, Ritsu couldn't tell. Either way, she didn't like the way they swayed. It was like a bad omen of horrible things to come.

And horrible _were_ going to come.

Besides the hang up with her, you know, almost getting carjacked and thrown into a car wreck, she made great time. Soon, the lonesome once public bath house and now regular house came into view as a massive shadow at the side of the gloomy road. It was barely illuminated by a weak, and nearly uses streetlight standing before the building. Ritsu closed the distance, and with her car's headlights, she saw a black sedan resting idly in the driveway. She stopped there, maybe ten meters away from the house and exited without closing the car door. Stealth was her goal here, try to slip in before Ayumu had a chance to notice her, and then get Mugi back. The cover of moonless night was a blessing, and she silently slipped closer to the house.

The tall grass made her feel like she was a U.S. soldier creeping against a Vietcong hideout. The stakes may have well been the same with what was at risk. There were lights on inside, but the windows were covered. Creeping through the front yard, she felt like she should have been terrified. Instead, she felt confident and determined, and actually glad her goal was clearer. She wasn't trudging blindly into a nightmare world with no defense against its horrors. This time she was armed against a girl who probably couldn't lift the fucking bar in weight class. Sure she had a gun, but Ritsu felt sure that she wasn't going to be killed. Maybe it was just because she was young, and with that came a sense of invisibility, but she severely doubted Ayumu could make a shot that would kill her. That was, of course, assuming she had an M9 or Glock or some other civilian sidearm. God help her if Ayumu had a magnum or shotgun. That was silly though, where the fuck would someone like her get a weapon like that?

Ritsu bit her lower lip when she realized there was only entrance into the house. She'd have to lure Ayumu out somehow, rush in, lock the door, and find Mugi, than escape out a window or something. It wasn't the sounded plan ever, but she wasn't presented with a plethora of options. Luck was on her side, because in the mess that was Ayumu's yard, Ritsu found a broken chunk of a cinder block. This would be perfect. She would stand in the shadows, and lob this through a back window or something. She considered throwing this through Ayumu's car's windshield. In fact, that would definitely lure her outside. All she had to do was find a good spot to hide and…

"Fuck you and the Toyota Camry you rode in on." Ayumu's mocking voice said from behind her. There was a clicking sound, and Ritsu felt the hard barrel of a pistol press against her back.

_Whelp…_

"Where's Mugi?" Ritsu asked, concealing her fear. She rose her hands up in the air, realizing it was probably safer to give in now than risk getting her spine blasted in two. Turned out she liked having functional legs.

"Gone already." Ayumu replied and pushed Ritsu towards the door. "Step inside my friend, step inside! Who would have thought that wearing all black would make me harder to see in the dark? Shit Ricchan, get it together!"

Ritsu growled and slowly walked forward as Ayumu kept up behind her. Her mind was on alert, trying to find some kind of way out of this situation that would end without any bullets in her body. She was lead inside into the messy, disgusting house, and asked again, "What did you do with Mugi? If you hurt even a single hair on her head, I swear to god I'll rip-"

"Big words from the little girl who got caught with her fucking pants down." Ayumu shoved her inside, closed the door, and locked it with one hand. "You really should have said some sweet goodbyes, 'cause the last thing that little cutie is going to remember from you is you fucking breaking her little heart. It's pretty much a tragedy in the making when you thinking about it. Poor little Kotobuki Tsumugi only had one girl she really liked, and was shot the fuck down like a god damned P-51 Mustang by Franco Lucchini. Doesn't matter now though, she won't be remembering much of anything anymore."

"What did you do to her?" Ritsu growled through her teeth.

"Handed her off to a big 'ol friend of mine!" Ayumu happily replied. She stepped away from Ritsu, but still kept the gun trained on her. "He's been interested in her ever since you two came back here to check on a dead pal. He tried to get her to show up in the woods, but you broke the trance and for some reason, he couldn't control her again. His power is starting to weaken, but he'll be all better soon. Thanks to me that is! Dunno what I'm going to do about you though… Hmm, guess I should keep you around so you can witness the grand finale!"

"Grand finale? What are you talking about and who did you give Mugi to?" Ritsu felt her last question redundant, and was sure who Mugi was being passed off to. She just didn't want to think about it, or accept it.

"Who do you think?" The black-haired girl laughed. "He! An evil so vast, so powerful and omnipresent. An entity who can break the barriers between worlds and blur the lines between life and death. I'm but a humble, remade follower for him, and Mugi is going to be the vessel to which he is remade in full!"

"R-Remade?" Ritsu's face went pale.

"Ever since all his old worshipers got torched, he's been getting smaller and smaller. But! He knows a way to remake himself, to conceive a child with a pure body and soul; a child that will be more capable of spreading suffering and misery across the universe than he ever was. It just so happens that our pretty little friend fits the bill!"

"You're lying. There's no way that's possible!"

"Why the fuck do you think little Azu-nyan was telling you to leave? Fuck, if you had listened to her, you wouldn't be in this horrible mess. Good thing the boss got rid of her for not behaving, huh?"

The warning had been right there in her face, and she had ignored it. Why hadn't she listened to the other Azusa? She clearly knew what was going on, and had sacrificed herself to pass off a clear warning. When a creepy version of a dead friend told you to leave, _you were supposed to leave!_ Ritsu realized this too late, and now Mugi was… was going to be used as…

_No!_ Ritsu screamed in her head. _No, no, no! I'm not going to let that happen! I'll stomp right into that world of suffering and bring her back. I'd like to see the Entity of Suffering just TRY and stop me. He made a mistake with choosing Mugi for this little game, because he got ME involved. _

Her breathing became heavier as her anger increased, and she desperately searched for an opening against Ayumu. She couldn't risk being shot, that wouldn't help Mugi at all.

"How long?" She growled at Ayumu.

"What?"

"How long until he does that… _thing_ to her?"

Ayumu shrugged, "Fuck if I know. It's like any pregnancy, it takes a little bit. I think there's a ritual involved too, but I don't know. You're thinking you could get her back, huh? Well, even if she did come back to this world in one piece, you'd have to fucking kill her to stop what's going to happen. Think you can kill poor little Mugi? I don't think you can."

She was right; Ritsu couldn't bring herself to do something like that. The mere thought was revolting. The idea of Mugi being somehow _impregnated_ by an omniscient demon god thing was even worse. At least she knew why Mugi had left and shoved her brother aside. Although, she kind of wished she hadn't. Meanwhile, Ayumu left the room briefly and returned with a plastic zip tie she found in her kitchen. She kept the gun trained on Ritsu and smiled. "'Kay, we gotta make sure you behave and don't try anything stupid. First, take all your clothes off. Underwear and everything."

"Why?" Ritsu cringed at the very thought of being naked in front of this woman.

"Two things actually." She smiled wickedly. "One, it makes you a little more defenseless and helps me win the psychic war between us. Two, I ain't gonna pass up a chance to see a sexy girl naked."

Ritsu felt like vomiting as Ayumu licked her lips. She stood in place, wondering if it was worth trying to make a charge with her knife. Ayumu's thumb flicked the safety off the pistol, and she frowned.

"Come on, less standing more stripping! You got thirty seconds or I put a fucking bullet through your knee! Come on!" She shouted, aiming the gun down at Ritsu's knee. Nearly in tears, the broken and humiliated drummer slowly obliged. She unbuttoned her dress shirt and let it fall to the ground there. Next was her white undershirt, the limited edition one Mugi had cried on. Then her skirt (which fell with a clatter with her keys, knife, and cell phone in it), shoes, and then socks. Finally, Ritsu undid her bra and slid off her panties, standing there fully humiliated and seething with anger. Tears burned in her eyes, and she wanted so badly to throttle this whore. She hated Ayumu, and most of all she hated that fucking Glock-17 in her hands.

"There we go!" Ayumu cheered, slowly stepping behind Ritsu. "Okay, now to my room, let's go!"

As Ritsu slowly walked towards her private quarters, Ayumu tied the zip tie around her wrists, and pulled it tight. These things were near impossible to get out of, and Ritsu realized she should have taken her chance to escape earlier. Now it was too late, there wasn't anything she could do like this unless she could somehow get to the knife. A quick plan formulated: Wait until Ayumu was asleep, then go use her knife to break free of these bonds and make an escape.

They made it to her room, and Ayumu pushed Ritsu on her bed there. The black-haired girl went over and sat on a cushioned chair in the corner of the room. Next to it, her laptop sat on the ground charging, and she rested the gun on her lap to pick up the computer and rest in on her knees. "There we go, nice and comfy. You just sit there, Ricchan, just sit there and we'll wait for the end together! May I say that the little blonde has really good taste in women? I could barely keep my hands off that tight little ass!"

"Fuck you." Ritsu spat.

"Your feistiness only makes my panties wetter, Ricchan." Ayumu smirked at her. "Like I said, just sit there and relax? Are you hungry? I can feed you like a baby if you want, I'm sure that would be fun. Also, just ask if you need to piss or anything. Hope you're not shy because I'm going to follow you to the toilet to make sure you don't try anything funny."

Ritsu said nothing, just sat at the edge of the bed scowling at Ayumu with her hands tied behind her back. She hated the way she was sitting there smugly on her laptop, giggling at stupid pictures on the internet while eying Ritsu's body like the pervert she was. It made the drummer feel disgusting, that she was now just a piece of flesh for this monster to ogle at. It got worse when Ayumu began openly sticking her left hand into her pants and doing an unspeakable act right in front of Ritsu. The laptop obscured her vision from the disgusting display, but Ritsu almost felt like throwing up when she realized she could _hear_ and _smell_ Ayumu masturbating to _her_.

Hours passed, and her kidnapper continued sitting there. She kept up on her laptop, occasionally pleasuring herself while smiling wickedly at Ritsu. She was trying to freak her out, Ritsu realized, and tried her best to look unaffected. It was a façade though, she felt nauseated by what was happening here. The only comfort she felt was that Ayumu wasn't molesting her, and she even felt surprised by that. This idea of out sleeping her was looking more and more hopeless. Ayumu was a night owl, and Ritsu had been up early that morning. She was exhausted and wanted so badly to just close her eyes and fall asleep on the bed.

Eventually her curiosity towards a single subject got the best of her, and she couldn't help but ask, "So why do you want to see the end of the world so badly? I mean, that's what you keep saying, that's it's going to end."

"Because the world fucking sucks." Ayumu cleverly retorted.

"Good answer. Best social commentary I've heard in years."

"Know what, fuck you." The black-haired girl sneered. "You probably had it easy. Friends, drummer of a band, family and shit that loves you. You don't know what it's like on the other side."

"What, you got bullied in high school so now you want to end the world?"

"You know I died." Ayumu pointed out, sounding almost reluctant to admit that. "I know you know, so don't try to act all surprised. I fucking died, and then woke up like nothing had happened. The Entity did it, and kept giving me dreams. There's a paradise for people like us, the ones who had to suffer all the way to death. For you, there's only gonna be more suffering, forever. You need to fill your quota."

"Right…" Ritsu was unsure what to say back to her. She seemed so justified in her reasoning, and for a moment, Ritsu almost felt bad for her.

And then her mind was flooded with a few brief, but horribly disturbing images. This house, years ago, broken into by a group of thugs; Sugiura Ayumu forced down; beaten; gang raped; throat slit; house burned to the ground.

She shivered at the horrible imagines, and felt herself reeling from their impact. Was that supposed to be some image of the truth, or her tired mind playing tricks on her? Either guess was equally valid. Her anger was slowly fading into a dreadful sense of hopelessness as she rested on her side, trying to fight sleep away. She wanted to get out of this and find Mugi if only to just apologize for getting her into this. This was her fault, she wished she could go back and changed what she had said to Mugi. Maybe faking feelings for her wouldn't have been that bad, or maybe she should have just said _'Let me think about it_'. Even if she had said yes, what would have been the worst outcome? As long as nobody else knew, it would just mean closer cuddling and quick kisses where kisses were needed. Mugi didn't seem like a very sexual person, but instead someone who just wanted a body to hold and love. Ritsu wished so much she could go back and provide that. The two of them could be cuddling together on a comfortable bed, but instead she was tied up naked in front of a perverted, undead sociopath. The worst part was, Mugi surely had it worse.

Wallowing in guilt, she did eventually fall asleep. It was a shaky sleep, one plagued with nightmares, and hopeful dreams about _this_ being a nightmare. After several hours of this off and on sleep, she woke up and awkwardly managed to sit. Her bladder was screaming for release, but she would rather piss on Ayumu's sheets than watch her use the toilet. At last that way she would be getting back at her in some kind of off-hand, disgusting method of revenge.

Sugiura Ayumu was asleep in her chair though, but the gun was nestled firmly in her hands. Ritsu wanted to wrestle it from her, but her hands were tied.

_This is it Ritsu, time to get out of this mess and rescue –and then apologize to- our favorite blonde haired lesbian!_

Feeling a surge of hope, the naked drummer stood up from the bed and tiptoed out of Ayumu's room. She had left the door open, thankfully, which removed the obstacle of making it out silently. Quickly, she moved on over to the living room and found her clothes where she had left them. Ayumu had slipped up all over the place; it was like she wanted Ritsu to escape! The naked girl squatted down and found her brother's switchblade in her pocket there. She took it in her hand and quickly made her way to the restroom, awkwardly closing the door as quiet as she could and locking it. Here she could covertly saw her way to freedom. The house was eerily silent though, and Ritsu was afraid that even her quiet footfalls were going to wake Ayumu up.

She immediately saw a flaw in her original plan. She was going to sit on the toilet and use the switchblade to saw her hands free from behind. However, her bladder was becoming an immediate obstacle. The house was too quiet, if she went and relieved herself, the noise could possibly wake Ayumu up. Ritsu herself had been woken up in her house a quiet night by someone using the restroom. She had no idea how heavy of a sleeper this girl was. She knew she wasn't going to be able to hold it much longer. A light of salvation beamed to her though, and her eyes caught side of an alternative!

_The sink! Yeah, this'll work perfectly! _

No time to think, she quietly hopped on up and tried not to think about how this was the single most indecent thing she had ever done.

_Six years ago Mio and I watched a concert on TV and decided we wanted to be musicians. I always thought by now I would be in a touring band with my best friends, famous, and having the time of my life. Instead, I am peeing into a sink while handcuffed and naked to avoid waking up a crazy lady with a gun who kidnapped my friend to give to an all-powerful demon god who wants to use her as a 'vessel'. I wonder what Freud would have to say about me now._

She finished up, and quietly stepped back down. After wiping awkwardly with her hands tied up, she went to sawing away the plastic that bound her. The knife wasn't exactly a razor sharp Spetnaz tactical knife, and the blade was rather dull. Sitting on the toilet with the lid down, she painstakingly sawed at the plastic for a good fifteen minutes before it became weak enough for her to just snap apart with a good stretch. Finally, the bonds were broken, and her arms and hands cried out in relief at being free. Now she had to make a decision. Get the gun from Ayumu? Or gather her clothes, hop in her dad's car and make a rescue attempt for Mugi?

Getting shot wouldn't help anything, so she decided she was going to just throw her undershirt on and scramble for her car. She quietly opened the restroom door and stepped into the hallway and-

"You pissed in my sink didn't you? You nasty bitch." Ayumu was right in front of her, gun drawn.

Ritsu immediately dropped her knife and grabbed Ayumu's wrists. This was it, if she was going to get out of here; she was going to have to fight. The gun went off, nearly deafening the drummer with its loud bang in close quarters. She cried out in pain as the bullet, grazed her shoulder. Ayumu was much weaker than Ritsu, and she was able to slam the black-haired girl into the wall, all while keeping the gun pointed away from her.

Her eyes flickered to her shoulder, and she was able to breathe easier when she saw her bullet wound was just a graze. It would bleed a bit, but nothing bad would come from it as long as it was just sanitized later.

The two of them were locked in a struggle, with Ayumu trying to bend and twist her wrist to aim the Glock at Ritsu. The drummer held strong, keeping Ayumu's arms pinned to the wall behind her.

"Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" Ayumu growled, kicking at Ritsu's shins and scraping her skin with unclipped toenails. Her knee went up once and slammed between Ritsu's legs. Despite being female, that still hurt and was extremely awkward with her state of undress. Thinking fast, Ritsu head-butted Ayumu, and broke her nose with her shiny forehead. The black-haired girl cried out and pain, and stumbled away, clutching her ruined face with one hand. Ritsu followed the attack up, kicking the girl straight in the gut as hard as she could. Ayumu fell down to one knee, and awkwardly tried to raise the pistol up to fire. Ritsu was fast though, and went for her with her knee, getting the wounded girl straight in the mouth. She felt a sense of grim satisfaction as it broke teeth.

The Glock-17 fired off two shots, both missing and Ritsu scrambled for the gun. She pried it out of Ayumu's weakened hands and backpedaled away from her. She held it properly in both hands, aiming down at Ayumu's torso.

"_Tell me where Mugi is_!" Ritsu screamed.

Ayumu fell to her hands and knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Blood was dripping down from her face, staining the hardwood in heavy dollops.

"_I SAID TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!_" She screamed in the voice she was trained to use against criminals.

"Woo…woods…" Ayumu choked out, and began trying to crawl away.

Something inside of Ritsu snapped, and a bitter though arose. Ayumu was supposed to be dead, and her being there went against the natural order of things. She existed only to spread the suffering preached by her unholy master and god. What purpose did she serve if she still lived? She kidnapped Mugi; gave her away to this monstrous entity; kidnapped Ritsu; stripped her down; humiliated her; and then tried to kill her.

Acting purely on impulse, she mashed the trigger of the weapon.

And the Glock-17 sang its song.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	9. Suffering

**ALL THERE WAS**

**PART NINE**

**SUFFERING**

"_Beneath her, the amount of dead leaves was steadily becoming greater, making her passage much louder than it had been moments earlier. Echoing above that sound was another oddity in her never ending tale of bizarre; the notes of an acoustic guitar echoing throughout the trees, its direction impossible to discern. Azusa's spirits were renewed when she placed that tune. It was _My Love is a Stapler,_ finger picked on an acoustic guitar. That _had_ to have been Yui, calling Azusa to her in her own way. She picked up her pace as fast as she could without losing her balance with all her injuries and ailments, desperate to make it to Yui._

-Taken from _Feeding a Dream_.

**RITSU ALONE…**

She could scarcely believe what she had just done. Sugiura Ayumu was dead in front of her after taking four shots to the body and one to the head. Her blood was splattered against the walls around her, and pooling onto the hardwood. The smell of gun powder stank in the air. Ritsu's trembling hands dropped the firearm, and clattered to the ground at her feet. She was shaking all over, about to scream from the revelation that she had just taken another human life pretty much on impulse. She didn't deserve that police badge she worked to earn.

It was hard to really understand how justified killing this girl had been. Claiming self-defense felt incredibly hollow, being that she had the upper hand at the end of the fight. The truth was painful, Tainaka Ritsu was a murderer. She slumped against the nearby wall (taking care to avoid the blood) and held her head in her hands.

_Why did I just do that? Did she really deserve to die?_

Before she could think too much longer on it, the smell of something awful burning reached her nose. She looked over and yelped in surprise. The corpse of the black-haired girl had been reduced to a pile of fiery cinders and ash, stinking up the hallway with the smell of burnt flesh. Ritsu gagged on the smell and scrambled away, going for her clothes and accidentally leaving her brother's switchblade behind. She made it to the moving room and felt hot air blowing against her back. It was like this whole building was about to go up in smoke. Acting as fast as she could, she began putting her clothes back on piece by piece. Never in her life had she been so relieved to be fully dressed. Making sure her keys and phone were in her pocket, she ran outside to get to her dad's car. Outside, the sun had just risen, so she had to return the vehicle before her dad left for work.

It was there and unmolested, door still open from last night. She practically leapt into the driver's seat and sank into the comfortable full leather interior. From the looks of things, someone went and stole change out of the space between the seats along with her dad's sleeve of CDs. Ritsu had to think hard on how much she really valued the stuff she left at home there. A few changes of clothes, her MP3 player and headphones… She decided she wasn't all that attached to any of it. This meant she was going to roll the car into the driveway and just make a sprint for the woods and get Mugi back. She did it once before, and she could sure as hell drag her back again. This time she just had to go a little further…

She hit the gas and took off, wincing at the rattling noise the damaged hind-end of the car was making. Her thoughts went between saving her dear friend, and how her dad was going to lock her in this car, release the parking brake, and send it rolling down into the Pacific Ocean with her trapped inside after he saw what she did with it. Not to mention, his copy of the album _Green Water_ had been signed by John Fogerty, whom her dad held in higher esteem than Jesus Christ.

Thankfully she beat the morning traffic on her way there, but could feel the eyes of passing people on her. A teenage girl with a wrecked car? Typical woman driver… She also realized her shoulder was bleeding through her shirt, which was going to be a problem if any concerned people saw it. Beyond that, she was hungry and tired too, and wanted nothing more than a cheeseburger before crawling into bed. There was no rest for the wicked though. At least Ayumu had turned out to be inhuman, which was a solid comfort to Ritsu. Killing people was an unforgivable crime, but killing people who seemingly weren't really human? Well, that was something else. That was doing God's work, as they said, and you didn't need to be religious to agree.

Under the cloudy skies, and through the foggy morning, Ritsu nervously returned her father's new Toyota Camry to the driveway. Thankfully these newer cars were pretty quiet, and even the crunching of gravel was muted on that dim morning. She slowly stepped out of the car and closed the door. Her shoulder was on fire and she felt like it was worth braving her father's wrath to get it cleaned up and taken care of. On second though, it wasn't worth the risk. She could bear a deep cut for now. Chances are she wasn't going to be able to face her parents for a long time. She went around out back and quietly went through the sliding glass door into the kitchen. There was one thing she needed out of her house, and it was up in her room.

"R-Ritsu?" Her mother gasped as she stepped inside. She was a mess, hair ruffled, hairband missing, and not to mention her bloody shoulder.

"Shh." Ritsu put a finger to her mouth and tried to just walk past her.

"You were gone all night, why didn't you call home? Wait; is that blood on your shirt?"

"Nope. Wine." Ritsu lied, and found herself trying to stifle insane laughter.

"Excuse me?" The astounded voice of her mother gasped.

Somehow, Ritsu decided, it was a better idea to make herself look as bad as possible in this current situation. It was better for them to think that she had gone out, partied, and wrecked the car; instead of getting tied up naked and then shooting a person that wasn't really a person. They'd worry less this way and just be angry. Ignoring her mother, she pressed on through the house, passed her brother on the stairs and headed for the guest bedroom. The sound of muffled running water told her that her dad was taking his morning shower. It wasn't so much the sound of running water but the sound of her dodging a bullet. She almost laughed in relief that she didn't have to deal with him. Inside the guest bedroom, her wallet with all her cards was right where she had left it. She scooped it up, put it in her skirt pocket and headed for the door. Before she left, she unbuttoned her dress shirt, being that it was just a little too warm for it. Her chest needed to breathe! Phase one of Operation Rescue Mugi was complete, now phase two could begin. Its mission objectives were as followed: get something to eat.

Her rumbling stomach told her that marching off to save her friend could wait a half hour. Giddy and riding strong on second wind, she pranced down the stairs, heading for the front door.

"Tainaka Ritsu, what in God's name has gotten into you?" Her mother stood at the base of the stairs. "You better have some really good explanation from all this, and for your sake some character witnesses to back you up!"

_I don't think I've ever seen her this angry_. _Not even when Satoshi got caught with that one girl at the park with…_

"Excuse me, coming through!' Ritsu gracefully leapt past her mother and dove for the door. Even she had to admit she was acting inexcusably disrespectful, but Mugi's safety was at stake, and by proxy the entire world's was too. At least that's what she had gotten out of Ayumu's ramblings. That thought made Ritsu want to just laugh her guts out.

_I have to save the world? Me? I'm just a rock drummer who can barely pass exams and dropped out of university! Someone else should be the heroine, not me. Someone like… ha, I bet if our roles were reverse, Mugi could save the world here. She'd come riding in like a Norse Valkyrie and with golden spear and shield shining and save my butt no problem. I don't think I've seen anyone else beat that arm wrestling game at the arcade besides her!_

"Where do you think you're going?" Her mother grabbed at her shirt collar from behind. Unbuttoning her shirt moments before had been her salvation, and Ritsu easily slipped away, leaving the over-shirt behind.

"To go save the world." She laughed dryly to herself, and escaped out the front door. Mission success, sort of, she had her wallet and the car was there for her dad to get to work in. Everyone was a winner here, even with a broken taillight which was _technically_ illegal. Ritsu found herself almost laughing at the irony of this all. So close to starting her career as a police officer and she had already broken three laws in one night; boy, what a great start! It was debatable how illegal killing Ayumu had been, since there was probably no evidence and people already thought she was dead. Ritsu was simply too mentally exhausted to give it more thought, and just kept telling herself that killing her had been like killing a vampire or werewolf or something.

With a bloodstained white shirt and stinging shoulder, Ritsu set off to find a _Starbucks_. If she ran the risk of being killed or worse by this Entity of Suffering, she saw no reason not to just splurge one last time in some tacky franchise. Luckily, she had the grace of living in a first world nation and found one within minutes after speed walking down town. Soon she was sitting on a high stool enjoying a muffin and vanilla white chocolate mocha and wondering just what her parents were thinking right about now. They were no doubt confused and angry. She checked her cell phone and saw six missed calls and about fifteen unread text messages all within the last ten minutes. Her phone was then turned off and shoved back in her pocket. This wasn't something she was prepared for. Not once in her investigation of the creepy happenings all stemming from the knowledge of Azusa's death did she think this would end up with a schism between her and her parents. The worst part was, there wasn't any way to explain it to them without sounding bat-shit insane.

_Oh who am I kidding, I probably AM insane by now. I'm sitting here in a bloody t-shirt giggling to myself while eating muffins. That's it, I've gone off the deep end, a few cards short of a full deck,_ _couple fries short of a Happy Meal, my elevator doesn't go to the top. However you say it, my brain is fried._

Well, on the bright side, she'd have a lot more time for her friends after this was over, assuming she even lived that long. After this tasty, expensive meal was finished, she was going to have to face the woods again. It was like waiting at the Dentist's to have teeth pulled. Sure it was worth it in the end, and something she needed to do, but fuck if she didn't want to just run away screaming now.

It wasn't long before she finished up breakfast, and decided it was time to begin phase three of Operation Rescue Mugi. Her mission objectives were as followed: Get Mugi back in the same condition she had been left in; and try not to die. If she did die, then she needed avoid being brought back to life as a slave trying to aid in the apocalypse. That was about the worst possible thing that could happen.

Filled up and ready to go, Ritsu began her journey across town to that sad little park where realities seemed to merge. People stared at her worriedly as she passed them. Groups of girls going to Sakuragaoka that morning whispered in their little groups, pointing at the girl in the white shirt and bloody shoulder.

_That's right ladies, get an eyeful of this!_ Ritsu thought, trying hard again not to laugh. _I'm the only chick around here that's bad enough to walk around with a bullet wound. Look at me, I just don't care! Look at my apathy! Look at it!_

That was right. She didn't care about the pain, the fear, or the embarrassment of being seen like this. The only thing she was focused on was getting Mugi back safe and sound. This was her fault and she was taking full responsibility for it. That morning wasn't like the other days here. While it was cloudy out, it didn't seem to have the same downcast and sullen mood as before. She remembered the last time she made the journey; the whole area radiated a sense of evil and melancholy. This time the suburbs were alive with morning traffic as the kids made their way to school, and adults made their way to work. It was buzzing with life, and the sense of security was actually a bit unwelcomed by Ritsu. She felt attached and safe here, which was exactly what she _shouldn't_ have been feeling while on Mugi's trail.

She assumed Mugi was going into the woods in the same manner she had before, with Ayumu giving her the push needed. So, all she had to do was follow her and drag her on back. Ritsu was already prepared the speech about stranger danger and getting into creepy people's cars for Mugi. Above that, she was preparing her apology.

_Know what Mugi? If I get you out of this safe and sound, I'll be your girlfriend. How does that sound? It's the least I can do for indirectly getting you kidnapped and handed off to what is arguably the single worst thing in existence. This isn't even me forcing myself, this is something I want too._

"Yeah… Mugi as a girlfriend isn't all that bad…" Ritsu whispered to herself as the park came into view. She already thought Mugi was cute, maybe with a bit of time she'd see her as more than that…

A few families were there. Adults with their toddlers dressed up in yellow raincoats and rubber boots, happily splashing around in the puddles. It was cute, and sickeningly deceiving with what lied beyond the tree line. The watchful eyes of parents were glued upon her as she stepped through the muddy swamp that was the park's ground. Her hairband had gone missing in this whole ordeal, and it gave her a grungy look. The flower of blood on her shoulder didn't make her look friendly either. She gave a sheepish smile at a particularly scared looking mother.

_I must look like a drug addict right now…_

She didn't look all that better as she began walking the trail into the woods from behind an old, locked up restroom. They could think what they want; it wasn't like she was going to see any of them ever again.

The woods didn't look any less foreboding as Ritsu found herself jogging down the path. They were once again bathed in the cold colors of monochrome, with her skin and dark colored skirt contrasting heavily against the gray that was all around her. She knew it should have been green and colorful this time of the year, but these woods didn't adhere to the laws of nature. There was no life in them, and they were more like a constructed maze than wilderness. The mud, damp leaves, and fallen branches everywhere made it feel like it was autumn or midwinter. Did nobody else ever notice how dead this place looked before? No, chances are they hadn't. They weren't meant to ever think about those woods.

Ritsu carried on, moving quickly and doing her best to preserve her stamina. She thought about what having Mugi as a girlfriend would be like, along with all the pros and cons. She thought getting the proper adapter to hook up her stereo speakers to her electronic drums. The thought of jamming with Mugi, her soon to be roommate if this went well, somehow sparked her to move faster. Her head was already buzzing with ideas for songs the two of them could play, and some sweet drum fills that would knock Mugi's socks off. She thought about Mugi swooning over her drum skills, showering her with compliments and asking for an encore. Playing for an audience of one, her biggest fan and… maybe girlfriend… maybe. She needed more time to think about that, and really decide if this was something she wanted to do. As much as she felt like it was a good idea to accept Mugi's offer to make up for getting her into this, Ritsu was still sure that it would be worse for both of them if her heart really wasn't in the relationship. Basically, she was locked in an internal debate, trying desperate to find the answer to a heated question.

_Do I like Mugi as more than a friend?_

It was so hard to find an answer amidst her confused feelings, ingrained social stigmas, and fear of ruining a perfectly good friendship. If only she had someone to talk to about this. Would Mio be a good candidate to discuss this with? Ritsu didn't think so, honestly. That was another thing she wasn't looking forward to if she said yes: the social stigma. A relationship like that would have to be kept secret to avoid overwhelming backlash from her parents and friends. Yui would have been completely accepting and supportive, but Ritsu wasn't sure about Mio. She somehow imagined the bassist blowing up over it, finding any little thing to scrutinize it over.

_How far apart are we that I have so little faith in her? Wouldn't it just be perfect irony if Mugi and I went to visit her like we did Azusa and find out she shot herself too? It would be even better if it led me on a crazy investigation that changes my view on how the universe functions. Actually, that wouldn't be good at all. I don't think I could do this all over again…_

She came to a stump near a small stream of water trickling through the gray. Last time she had passed through here it had been too dark to notice this particular landmark. There was something strange about it, something she couldn't put her finger on. The smooth round stones near the stump were light gray and colored slightly with faded brown stains. Ritsu had no idea why her eye caught this, or if it had any significance. Her sides were starting to ache from how far she had walked and jogged after just eating a pretty sizable meal. She took a deep breath and sat on the large stump, taking a moment to rest up.

_I'm feeling pretty naked here without that knife now. If I see another Ayumu, I want to be ready._

Behind her, she heard splashing, like someone was walking through the stream. She turned around to face whoever was coming, and was certainly surprised with who it was.

It was the other, or another, Azusa again, walking barefoot through the cold running water. She was in the Sakuragaoka uniform, her ribbon marking her as a senior… or what would freshman if Ritsu wasn't mistaken. She felt actually rather relieved to see the other Azusa alive and well again.

"Azusa! Thank God you're okay; I thought for sure that you were dead!" She laughed in relief. "I'm so sorry for not being able to help you, I was just so scared."

"It's okay Ritsu-senpai." Other Azusa smiled. She sounded much more like the original Azusa, and even looked more similar her with that smile. The twin-tailed girl walked up close to Ritsu, only a couple meters away. "It's good to see you again."

"Uh, you too." Ritsu scratched the back of her head, and was surprised by this girl's sudden friendliness.

"You're going to rescue Mugi-senpai?" She took a step forward, eyes gleaming with hope.

"That's the plan." Ritsu nodded. "I'm not going to lie; I have no idea how I'm going to do this. Hopefully I can just follow the same way I did last time, and bring her back. Problem is, I have no idea what comes after all that fog."

"I think I could help you there…" This Azusa suddenly looked nervous. "I went through there once too, and got really mixed up. You have to be careful, because some of the stuff from the Entity's er, 'home', sometimes wind up there. Mugi-senpai is probably with him right now, and he's probably getting ready to pass his form along into her. That doesn't mean you can't make it in time!"

Ritsu stood up, "Then what are we waiting for?"

"How are you so brave?" Azusa looked at her in disbelief. "You… you know what this place can do."

"Yeah, but this is Mugi we're talking about." Ritsu reminded her. "I got her into this mess and… I guess…" She took a deep breath. "I guess I don't care what happens to me as long as she's okay. I hurt her feelings big time just before this, and this my way of making things up to her."

"I wish I could have been like you, Ritsu-senpai." The black-haired girl sighed. "I was so scared, and kept wishing I could be home when I was here. Even right now, you're not afraid me at all."

"Of course not, you're here helping me. I don't understand what's going on all too much right now, but I'm glad for the help. Come on, we can walk and talk, right?"

"S-Sure." Azusa sheepishly nodded, and two of them took off, with Ritsu gracefully leaping over the stream. "You really aren't scared though?"

"Of course I am." Ritsu smiled. "But, it's just, I don't know… I think my stupid mistake with Mugi and how much I want to correct it is overriding the fear. Plus I'm too tired right now to really think about the stakes here, and what could happen if I don't make it in time. I only got a few winks of sleep last night. Say, if you were able to come back after what happened to you, does that mean Sugiura Ayumu could do the same?"

The other Azusa gave her a confused look. "If… the Entity wanted her to come back. I didn't 'come back' though, I just kind of… I don't know, Ritsu-senpai, it's really hard to explain."

"Why are you calling me senpai all of a sudden?" Ritsu asked.

"I guess old habits die hard." She shrugged.

Ritsu stopped in her tracks. "Wait, what? You weren't calling me senpai earlier when you were here earlier."

"What are you talking about?" The twin-tailed girl stared at her, her face contorted with confusion. "Ritsu-senpai, are you okay? It's me, Nakano Azusa, who do you think you're talking to right now?"

"You." Ritsu suddenly felt nervous. Something here was very wrong. "Wait, you're not… that _other_ Azusa, are you? You're something different!"

"What are you talking about?" Azusa reiterated. "There's only one me here, and that's _me_. I hope whatever was posing as me didn't do bad things." She blushed and looked at her feet. "I forget things do that in this place. You have to be careful, Ritsu-senpai, when you make it to the other side."

"What's the other side? Start talking sense or I'm going to just leave you behind." Ritsu threatened.

"Don't do that!" Other Azusa cried. "Sorry, sorry, this is all really confusing for me. The Entity has Mugi-senpai, or at least that's what we all think."

"Who's _we_?"

"The other people here, I'm not the only one. They're off elsewhere though." She vaguely clarified and then continued. "Look, this place right now, we're still in Japan. Deep in the woods where an only village and temple used to be, the door between our world and the world of the Entity of Suffering is in is open. It's not open very much, but enough to spread sorrow and suffering to the area around here. In other worlds, the door is open all the way, and everyone is either dead or in a state of eternal misery. I think he's trying to remake himself with Mugi-senpai's help so he can open the door all the way. Not just here, but _everywhere_. You have to go into his world, find Mugi-senpai, and get her back before he… impregnates her…"

"So I have a clear goal." Ritsu nodded. "He's not going to just let me walk in there, is he?"

"No, he isn't." Azusa shook her head.

"Great." The dusk-haired girl grumbled. "And if I fail, the whole world turns into nightmare land and it's all my fault?"

"'fraid so, Ritsu-senpai."

"Okay, okay, good, I work well under pressure." She started moving again, breaking into a jog that the other Azusa struggled to keep up with. "I guess I gotta say thanks for getting me to the door. Can you come with me there?"

"I don't think I can." She answered. "It's different for everyone who goes there, and changes all the time. If I went in with you, chances are I would end up somewhere really far away, and maybe couldn't get out."

"What about me?"

"I'm not going to lie, Ritsu-senpai, you may die or get trapped forever." Azusa warned her. "Only you can do this though, because the rest of us are tied in with the Entity too much. If we got close, he could just kill us with a thought. Outsiders are different though, you can do what we can't."

"Alright, so the fate of the universe is in my hands." Ritsu suddenly felt lightheaded.

The _other_ other Azusa took a moment to lead Ritsu around the blockade of trick thorns that had gotten them both at one point. Ritsu was thankful not to have to deal with that, but the path was gone and she was just following this Azusa blindly through the woods now. She wondered what the real Azusa would think if she knew there were all these strange copies of her running about. This one here was a lot more faithful to the original, and Ritsu was almost fooled in to thinking this _was_ Azusa. Watching the twin-tailed girl move on forward, barefoot, with the bottom of her feet blackened from the forest floor, Ritsu couldn't help but wonder if this _was_ the Nakano Azusa that had left them.

_Of course it's her! Think about everything she said!_

Ritsu stopped a second time, and felt like the world was spinning. This whole time she thought this was the Other Azusa, but no, no, this had to be Nakano Azusa; the one and only! Now she felt stupid for the things she had said moments ago, and the confusion that bred from it.

"Azusa!" She blurted out, and felt her hands shaking. Her emotions were a scrambled mess. This was her, her kouhai, the girl they had abandoned, the girl who was now part of this nightmarish mirror world. Tears began building in her eyes and she couldn't help herself. She leapt at Azusa, grabbing her into a tight hug, and holding her close.

"Wha, what is this?" The surprised kouhai yelped.

"_I'm sorry!_" Ritsu cried. "Mugi's sorry too; we didn't mean to abandon you! It… just… I'm sorry we're such terrible friends."

"Ritsu-senpai…" Azusa's voice, _the real Azusa's voice_, quivered, and she hugged her back. "D-Don't blame yourself, please. I'm sorry for not saying goodbye, or leaving with a reason. It was selfish of me."

"Shut up, no it wasn't." Ritsu continued to weep. "We know why you did it. It's because you loved Yui, right? Loved her like a sister you couldn't live without."

"Y-Yeah…" Azusa whimpered.

"Where… where did she go?" Ritsu risked asking.

"The same place you're going now." Azusa answered. "A jealous sister took her there and did something unspeakably horrible to Ui. C-Come on though. I'm so happy to see you again, but… but we need to get there before he defiles Mugi-senpai. Come on Ritsu-senpai, if anyone can do this it's you!"

Ritsu laughed through the burning tears, "Y-Yeah, you're right! He picked the wrong blonde to mess with! Lead the way Azusa! And, one other thing…"

Azusa let go of her, but held her hand still, gently pulling her along. "What's that?"

"We won't ever forget you." Ritsu wiped tears from her eyes with her arm. "We meant what we wrote in that song. Forever friends, Azusa, graduation isn't the end. _Death _isn't the end, you're still in our hearts. I'm happy I was able to see you again."

"Ritsu-senpai…" Azusa slowly down briefly, but quickly resumed pulling her along by the hand as fast as her legs would take her. "I loved all four of you, but Yui-senpai just a little more. I'm glad I get to see you too, even if we're like this right now. Maybe when this over, me, you, Mugi-senpai and Yui-senpai can have a little more time together here too."

"You found Yui?" Ritsu found herself smiling, and her heart fluttering. Something about that made her feel infinitely better. Azusa had gotten what she wanted; her death wasn't completely in vain. "I'm happy to hear that."

"It'll be happier if you see her again. Yui-senpai talks about how much she misses you three."

"Yeah, it would be happier."

There was so much more Ritsu wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words necessary. Around them, the woods were slowly becoming enveloped with white fog, meaning they were getting closer. To Ritsu, this felt like a dream, and was having trouble convincing herself that any part of it was real. The world was going to end if she didn't get Mugi out of there, and the ghost of her dead friend was leading her by the hand.

_No, mom, the real reason I wrecked the car is because…_

Now Ritsu had to wonder if she wasn't really on drugs here. The forest more or less ended without warning, and led into a muddy field of high, yellow grass. The smell of nature reminded Ritsu of old camping trips, and there was a sense of peace to it. It felt like this place would actually be quite relaxing and tranquil under better circumstances. Mist obscured the edges of the field, and made it seem like it went on in all directions endlessly. Even the forest just behind them was gone. It was like a place secluded from the rest of the world; a place where forbidden lovers could come and escape the scrutiny of society. Ritsu wondered for a moment if this place would look nice if it were a field of flowers. She closed her eyes and imagined Mugi pulling her along instead of Azusa. Her soft hand, blonde hair flowing in the wind, white sundress clinging to her skin from the rain, and her blue eye's meeting Ritsu's ambers.

_"Ricchan, it's so beautiful here._"

"I'm coming, Mugi." Ritsu muttered through gritted teeth. She wasn't sure if Azusa heard her, but the twin-tailed girl didn't react. The drummer was exhausted though, and the stitch in her side was gleefully tormenting her. She couldn't stop though, not for anything if she wanted to make it in time. There was a sense of frustration that came without knowing what was ahead, or what kind of time she had. She wanted to know what her chances were, and if it was even worth trying.

_What am I thinking? Of course it's worth trying!_

The temporary reprieve of the field disappeared as the mist became thicker and thicker around them. Azusa's pace slowed, and soon they were walking normally, with labored breathing. They must have ran at least 500 meters to get there. Beneath their feet, the high grass slowly turned to dry, hardpan dirt. The fog was much thicker here, limiting visibility in all directions –even upwards- to only a couple meters. They had gone from moving through a tranquil field of grass to a sea of dirt and fog in mere minutes.

"Where is this?" Ritsu asked, her voice hollow with nervousness. All of a sudden she wasn't so gung-ho about this anymore.

"Think of it as the front porch to the door." Azusa replied. "This is the second time I've been here, but I know how it works."

"You came here following Yui?" She then asked.

"Yeah, but going through here wasn't how I found her. It's how I learned how to get to her." Azusa sighed and shook her head. "Like I said, it's all really confusing. It's a lot more comforting to be here with another person."

"I'd imagine."

"There's no turning back though. We're not in Japan in anymore. If you turned around, you'd just walk into the woods the way the thing controlling it imagines them. Demons and monsters hide there."

"M-Monsters?" Ritsu shuddered.

"Yeah…" Azusa's replied, dryly. "They're all meant to deceive you, like a succubus or a cute animal that's really a monster. You can't trust anything, Ritsu-senpai."

"You're telling me." Ritsu winced as she patted her shoulder wound.

Her sleepiness was catching up with her too, and this walk felt like a forced march that never seemed to end. Azusa was definitely right; they certainly weren't in Japan anymore. She wondered how many people had discovered this place by accident, or if there were some kind of conditions that needed to be met for it to exist. She was more inclined to believe the latter was true, since people went hiking around here all the time. The strange deaths and suicides were only a tiny fraction of the people who went into the woods. Ritsu hoped that Azusa could help her get on out too, since bringing Mugi back through here and into the woods she described sounded pretty counterproductive. Save the girl, get eaten by demons, BAD ENDO.

"There, this is the door." Azusa pointed forward.

Ritsu didn't see it at first, but after a few seconds, it came into a view: a massive, smooth concrete wall. Around it, the fog was thinner, and Ritsu could see it stretching in either direction endlessly, and being impossibly tall. Amidst the mildew-covered brown concrete, faded graffiti in languages she didn't know was scrawled all over the place. Half of it looked completely unrecognizable, like it was some older version of either Russian or Old Norse.

"It's just a wall." Ritsu pointed out the obvious. "Don't tell me I have to climb it."

"No, that'd be silly." Azusa stepped away from her and leaned against the stone monument. She slid down, sitting against it, and hugged her knees. "A lot of the stuff around Suffering involves metaphors, I think. This wall, for example, is a metaphor for the barrier between our worlds, or the center of his world… I don't know."

Ritsu sat down next to her, hugging her knees as well. "So how do I get past it?"

"You sleep, and your body gets left behind, sort of like…" Azusa thought for a moment. "…astral projection, that's what it's called. I'll stay here and make sure your body isn't touched by monsters or anything."

"Wait, wait, wait, then how do I get back?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Ritsu felt her confidence sink. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Get Mugi-senpai and find a way out. Yui-senpai was able to get out at one point, you should be able to too." Azusa replied. "Come on, you can't give up now!"

"You're right." Ritsu sighed. "So what, I just have to fall asleep here?"

"I think so."

The drummer yawned, and leaned against Azusa's shoulder. "You know, sleeping doesn't sound so bad."

Her mind and body were exhausted, fighting past even the anxiety brought on by this situation to yank her into the numbing embrace of sleep. What scared her though, was the thought of what would happen when she finally woke up.

"It was nice seeing you, Ritsu-senpai." Azusa quietly said.

"You too, Azusa. Say hi to Yui for me if I don't get the chance."

"I will. One more thing…"

"What's that?"

"Good luck, Ritsu-senpai."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	10. Miscarriage

**ALL THERE WAS**

**THE LAST CHAPTER**

**MISCARRIAGE**

"_Please open your eyes  
>Please don't fade away<br>I won't let you leave me  
>I'll follow you through it all<br>Wherever it will lead me  
>I will follow"<em>

-_Gloom, Beauty, and Despair_ by _Swallow the Sun_

**RITSU GOES ALONE…**

She didn't even remember falling asleep. One moment she was leaning against Azusa, and the next thing she knew she was caught in a whirlwind of strange dreams and nightmares that seemed to last on forever. She only really remembered one.

The dream was a standard nightmare, the kind that came with watching a scary movie or eating peanut butter before bed. She was running with her friends away from the school, Sakuragaoka, and Azusa was missing. There were dead looking girls in their uniforms shuffling around, like zombies. She was running with a submachine gun in her hands, and was covered with blood.

_"Ricchan!_" Yui and Mugi screamed in unison in her dream. The drummer gasped, and didn't have time to react as a massive German Sheppard leaped at her, going straight for her face with its teeth. Trying to force herself to wake up from the nightmare, she tried to grab its muzzle and stop it from biting her. It was in vain, the dog tore at her right ear viciously. It may have been a dream, but the pain felt very, very real. Screaming, she writhed in agony under the weight of the animal as it tore her ear off. There was a crunching sound, and Ritsu saw with some satisfaction that Yui had broken her guitar over the hound, stunning it briefly. Acting without thinking, Ritsu managed to grab the submachine gun she had in the dream and unload a few bursts into the dog and kill it. Shaking all over, she got to her hands and staggered over to the wall of the gymnasium right by her. Even in a dream, she was terrified of feeling what was left of her ear. Blood was pouring out of the wound, and staining her school uniform, and she knew this had to be a nightmare brought on by the Entity of Suffering. Was this even a dream, or was this its very domain? If the latter were true, then she probably stood no chance at rescuing Mugi.

Before she could even feel the hopelessness set in, the doors of the gymnasium burst up, and several dead, zombified girls in the Sakuragaoka uniform fell on her. There were three of them, and they eagerly began tearing into her flesh with their teeth. She screamed and struggled, unable to escape their (excuse the pun…) deadweight as the pressed her down and dug into an all-you-can-eat Ricchan buffet. The pain as excruciating and unreal as teeth tore into her right breast, grinding and snapping, eagerly trying to eat at her flesh. She continued screaming and pushed the monster's head away, and with it came a sizable chunk of meat torn away from her. Another lunged in and bit down on the back of her hand, and she felt the third digging into her shin.

_This can't be real, this can't be real, this can't be real!_ Her mind repeated over and over as her body screamed. She felt teeth ripping against her neck, and her mouth filled with the taste of blood. This dream ended as playing the role of a victim in a zombie movie. She was killed in seconds, but thankfully it _was_ a dream.

Ritsu awoke with a start, screaming and clutching her neck. It was still burning in agony like it was being torn open, but seemed to be fine in the flesh. She was sitting up on concrete, in a massive room whose ceiling she couldn't see. It looked like some kind of abandoned warehouse, obscured by fog like the field and sea of dirt before. The fog had a sickly yellow color too it, making this whole place seem to radiate a horrible miasma of the soul. Her heart was pounding from the dream, and she had trouble believing it had just been a dream. The sensations in it were still real, and she could feel the aftermath of pain in all the places she had been bitten. Even her ear was still throbbing, and she had to touch it to make sure it was even still there.

_So this is it, the World of Suffering. That was one hell of a welcome…_

"Ritsu!" A voice she didn't recognized called out from the fog. It was feminine, and vaguely reminded her of Yui, just less high pitched and chirpy.

_And this must be the welcome committee! Let's go see what she has in store for me._

Ritsu stood up and stretched, wincing at the aches sleeping on concrete had so kindly left her. Her fatigue from yesterday was gone, but hunger had replaced it. Stomach growling, she walked towards the voice in the fog, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. In only a matter of seconds, the mist became less substantial and a girl's form materialized. Ritsu nearly had her breath stolen away; this girl could have been Yui's twin. She was naked (go figure) and bore striking resemblance to that air-headed guitarist. The only real difference was that her hair went down to her waist, and she was absolutely filthy with dirt and mud. She also stank like a bath was a foreign and terrifying concept to her. Ritsu could say with utmost certainty that this was not Yui.

"Where's Mugi?" She demanded right away.

"She's in a place called 'the garden'." The Yui lookalike replied pleasantly, like Ritsu was someone she had been waiting to see. "You still have a bit of time, but the Glorious One is going to try and stop you."

"Glorious One? That's what you call him?" Ritsu shook her head in disbelief. "Still, good to know I'm not completely doomed."

"It's what he likes to be called." She told her, and outstretched a filthy hand. "By the way, I'm Ui."

_Oh boy, here we go. I wonder if I'll find the Other Jun, Other Sumire, and Other Nao around here too. I wonder if they know what happened to their Other guitarist, heheheh…_

"Tainaka Ritsu." The drummer shook her grimy hand. "So, are you going to help me out?"

"You bet!" Other Ui cheerfully said. "Nobody here really likes the Glorious One, and there's talk that you could even get rid of him for good!"

"Wouldn't that be something?" Ritsu gave a dry, incredibly forced laugh. "So, where do I have to go?"

"Like, I said, the garden. Come on, follow me." She said, and gestured for Ritsu to follow. Together, the two of them set off into the fog. It was like the sea of dirt, only now a sea of concrete. As they walked, Other Ui continued to talk, "Believe it or not, the master here _has_ a physical form somewhere. Nobody knows where it is or has ever seen it. He's going to leave that and enter the girl he found, the one you're trying to rescue. If you took her away from the ritual spot, he couldn't get to her and… well… he'd have nowhere to go and die out pretty quickly. I think Azusa-chan already told you why you're the only who can do this."

"Yeah…" Ritsu found herself smiling for some reason. Not only could she rescue Mugi, but she could _kill_ this bastard too. Two drums with one stick or something. That was something she certainly had to look forward to.

"He's going to try and stop you though." Other Ui continued. "Remember though, the more you suffer, the worse it gets."

"That makes you the third or fourth person to tell me this." Ritsu commented. She still didn't really know what it meant.

"Then you'll be fine." The long-haired girl sighed in relief. "There's the door right there."

This time the door was a literal door instead of a giant metaphor or what not. Metal, rusted, covered in rivets; Ritsu wasn't really all too surprised by its appearance. It felt familiar, like she had somehow passed through it in another life or something. So from what she could gather, beyond here was some place called the garden and the Entity of Suffering was going to try to stop her in his own playing field. It was the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, last pitch, blah blah blah…

"Well, thanks I guess." Ritsu awkwardly said, and stood in front of the door.

"Good luck."

"Wait." The drummer stopped for a moment, remembering something she heard Other Azusa say. Something about a third sister, and this girl here bore striking resemblance to both Ui and Yui. Other Azusa had never introduced herself as such, and had been an exact replica. This Ui didn't look exactly like either Hirasawa sister, but looked like she belonged in the family, like a cousin. So Ritsu asked, "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm Ui, remember?"

"Yeah, it's just strange since you look just like the sister of another Ui I know. That's not a very common name either." Ritsu told her.

This Ui smiled and said, "I really look like onee-chan? That's great!"

"Onee-chan? What are you talking about?" Ritsu took a step back. "Yui only has one sister, and you're definitely not her."

That pushed the girl's buttons quite masterfully, and she instantly became distraught and angry, shouting, "Why do you and the others care about that other Ui so much? I was supposed to be in her place, _it's not fair!_ Even after I got rid of her, you people still care. Why? All she did was steal my name and place!"

"Wait, _got rid of her_?" Ritsu repeated in shock. Did this girl just imply that she had been the killer? If so, why?

'Ui' instantly back pedaled and threw on a forced grin. "Did… Did I just say that? Oh no, that's not what I meant to say. I mean, it was Onee-chan who got rid of her, you should know that! She did it because I'm the one who should have been her sister, right?"

"You…" Ritsu began to feel her blood boil. "You killed her! You're the one who killed Ui!"

She didn't know the details about who this girl was, but apparently she thought she was Yui's sister and was violently jealous. So what had she done? Possess Yui and get revenge for, what, Ui simply existing? What was she supposed to be exactly, though? A parallel Ui who shared none of the same endearing traits? Ritsu didn't understand, but she was _mad_ at her. The rage building inside her was unlike anything she had ever felt. Without thinking, she lunged forward and threw her hands around the girl's throat and squeezed hard.

"You killed Ui!" She screamed, and continued to squeeze as hard as she could. The brown-haired girl began to go limp, and didn't even struggle under Ritsu's superior strength. She simply choked as she struggled to gasp for air. Her hands weakly grabbed at Ritsu's wrists. Unable to even think straight, Ritsu screamed at her again, "This is your fault! Everything that's happened is because of you! _YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!_"

Other Ui's face was getting redder and redder, and her choking became louder and louder as Ritsu throttled her. The drummer was in a flurry of tears, wishing so desperately that strangling this monster would somehow undo everything. Inside, she felt horrified at what she was doing, and horrified at just how satisfying squeezing the life out of her was. It was some kind of small comfort, like revenge in a way. Pretty soon this Ui went limp in her hands and Ritsu let her fall to the ground, unconscious. Her neck was darkened from bruises, and her eyes had rolled to the back of her head. Her chest was slowly rising and falling, so Ritsu hadn't had gone too far and killed her. Roughing her up a bit was fine. Killing Ayumu had been one murder too many, she didn't need the idea of strangling someone with her bare hands to weigh on her conscious too.

She was wasting time though, and needed to get to the Entity. At least she finally understood just what had happened from start to finish with Azusa, Ui, and Yui. This jealous girl had been hiding away like a spirit, slowly hating Ui for who knew how long. Went the time came, she possessed or controlled Yui somehow, then made her kill her sister. Then after that, Yui somehow disappeared to this world, and everything that followed was because of this. At least, that was what Ritsu gathered from all of this. And at the heart of it, the Entity of Suffering had been the one stoking the flames.

She shook her head and found the rusty handle of this over-the-top attempt to intimidate her they called a door. With a good yank, it screeched on open, and Ritsu stepped blindly into the darkness beyond. There was no ceiling or sky, everything above her was just solid, pitch black. The path in front of her was a decrepit paved walkway, with mud branching off endlessly in all directions. It was like a sea of dirt, with one lonely path going through it. All she had to do was follow the mildewy brick road, follow the mildewy brick road, follow the mildewy brick road…

Ritsu took the first step, and instantly everything around her faded to blackness.

_I should have seen that coming…_

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" A disembodied voice shouted from all around her. It was a man's voice, and he sounded like a game show host. Was this the Entity of Suffering talking to her? Strange, Ritsu imagined him sounding like Travis Ryan of _Cattle Decapitation_ with inhumanly horrible screams and growls. Instead, this sounded like an overly friendly salesman trying to make her walk off the lot with a brand new car.

The voice continued in that same obnoxious, out of place tone, "So you're Tainaka Ritsu, the one who stopped my lovely bride from coming here at first. Too bad you were unable to stop her a second time."

"Mugi is not your bride, you monster!" Ritsu shouted into the blackness.

The Entity chuckled, vibrating the air all around Ritsu. "You're right, Tainaka Ritsu, she's more of a piece of meat to be used for my own purposes. It'd be rather awful if you made it to her, and moved her. Luckily, that's not going to happen. My influence has left you dead in countless realities before this. While we're waiting for the ritual to finish up here, let's explore some of these."

_What? What is he talking about?_

Ritsu tried to run forward, and felt like she was actually making progress. This ended abruptly as she felt pressure on her jaw, like it was being pushed down by some unknown force. Fear was mounting as the pressure became heavier and heavier, and she was afraid her jaw was going to be dislocated or something. Ritsu's hands went to her face, and felt that her mouth was closed. This was impossible, it felt like her mouth was being pried open, but at the same time it appeared to be closed. Stinging, horrible pain began to appear at the side of her lips, and felt like her cheeks were getting split. She cried out, and gagged on the overwhelming taste of blood. Her hands gripped her cheeks, and they continued to feel normal with her mouth closed. The pain was unbearable though, and she soon found herself on her knees, trying to scream. No sound came out; instead she choked on the taste of irony filth and rancid tasting bile. Her gagging was audible, but at the same time, her mouth felt normal and devoid of any sort of abnormal liquids. It was like she was feeling the pain of another person while her body stayed the same.

Even if that made it seem like this wasn't real, the pain wasn't going away. She couldn't move forward, only clutch her face in agony and try desperately to keep from choking herself into unconsciousness. It literally felt like her face was being torn in two, and wasn't showing any sign of stopping. All around her, the Entity that controlled this place laughed as she twisted and squirmed in the darkness.

Finally, it ended and she was back in that place called 'the garden' again. Her cheeks felt numb with the pain gone so suddenly. She was sweating all over, and shaking horribly as she got to her feet and sprinted down the path. No matter what it took, she was going to make it to Mugi.

"That was a really fun instance of you being murdered." The entity laughed at her. "Know who was the killer there? Get this, it was none other than Akiyama Mio, brought back from the dead with a taste for killing!"

Ritsu's step faltered a bit at those words, but she shook her head and dismissed it. He was just trying to scare her, and slow her down. She couldn't fall for it.

"It was quite a sight to behold. You were writhing there as Hirasawa Yui screamed at your butchered and bloody form, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. She died too not long after, in a much more painless way. It was a death you would have been jealous about if you knew about it. What about your little welcome party with the undead? That one is particularly great because you soon joined their ranks as a mindless killer too. You killed your dear little Mugi!"

"_Shut up!_" Ritsu screamed.

"That's right; you tore her throat out with your teeth like a savage monster. That's a bit redundant to say, since that's exactly what you are. The funny thing is, this makes the _second_ time she's suffered a horrible fate because of your actions. This time it's a little less direct, but still all your fault. Unlike those other instances, you will actually still be around to witness the world change and become what I want to it to be. You're not going to die, oh no, your suffering will be a great source of fuel for me. And trust me, when I am reborn, you are going to suffer _a lot_."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Ritsu gritted her teeth and sprinted forward as fast as she could.

"This is pretty fun, watching you try so hard only to end up failing. If you had listened to that little brat and left with this girl, neither of you would be here now. It's lucky for me that an incompetent, careless idiot like you ended up being my adversary."

Up ahead, Ritsu saw what looked like a pond of black liquid, like tar. There was vaguely human shaped form resting in it, apparently naked with long blonde hair. That was it! There were only about twenty meters between her and Mugi. This was the last stretch, and in less than a minute she would be there with Mugi in her arms!

"Time's ticking Tainaka Ritsu. In about ten minutes I'm going to be in her and remade as a literal god. You get a front row seat too, isn't that great. Hold on though; let's not get _too_ close here."

All around her, everything went black again, and suddenly a horrible, burning pain exploded between her legs. She trembled and fell to her knees, crying out briefly from it. It was like someone had rammed a burning spike of metal inside her private region, giving it a throbbing ache like she had been violated horribly. Her hands grabbed at herself between her legs, unable to stop the horrid feeling. Tears blurred her vision, and even the blackness around her was hard to see as she collapsed onto the ground. This was the worst of the sensations and 'deaths' the Suffering had put her through. Her quiet sobbing became screaming cries of pain and she was half tempted to start begging and screaming for it to stop.

_How am I supposed to get to Mugi if he can inflict torment on me like this? It hurts so much I can't even move! This is like… reverse childbirth or something!_

"Yeah, I thought this would one would stop you in your tracks. Another one where Mugi died because of you. This is becoming something of a trend huh? You really are a shitty friend, you know that?"

"Damn you…" She choked out through gritted teeth, unable to say any more than that. His words meant nothing to her, but the pain... She would have rather died at that point than keep suffering through this. Plus, the idea of seeing her failure to rescue Mugi, and what that would bring with it… Being dead sounded like a _wonderful_ alternative to this.

Following the pain, it felt like something disgusting, slimy, and hot was oozing out from inside of her. She really didn't want to know what kind of horrible thing happened to her in the reality she was apparently feeling. The feeling of grotesqueness that came with the realization of what she was probably feeling made her want to throw up and die even more. It didn't get any better. Now she felt like someone was stabbing her repeatedly in the chest with a sharp object. She screamed and squirmed as she felt cold, sharp metal stab into her with blood pouring out from the wounds. Sure, none of it was real, and the blood she was feeling was just an illusion… but that didn't do a thing to pull her out of this complete reality of torment and suffering.

_What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to win against something like this? All these idiots told me was 'the more you suffer, the worse it gets'. What does that even mean? How can it help me? Are they saying that if I just –not- suffer then I'll be okay?_

The pain briefly dampened for a moment at that mere thought, before appearing again at full strength.

_Wait, that's it! T-This is a battle of wits; I get it now._

Following up this idea, she tried to just simply pretend the pain wasn't there. It didn't work, and soon the sensation of her cheeks tearing and undead monsters biting her to pieces were added on. She gave one final shriek, with her body arching forward, and twisting from the god-awful agony all over the place. Suffering was going all out, determined to just make her writhe there until his unholy work was finished. Except Ritsu wasn't going to let that happen. Desperate, she tried something else, the only thing she could think to do. She thought about the happiest moments with her friends.

The excitement of watching _The Who_ play Budokan on TV with Mio, and how inspiring Keith Moon was when he played each and every song. The notes, such simple beats to reinforce the rest of the band, but yet so complex in their own way; were what inspired her to take up the sticks as well. Even in the state of awful agony, she could remember how happy she was when she finally purchased her kit and brought it home with Mio. Then there was the anxiety and troubles when they first started playing together, and how difficult it was to coordinate even the most basic of notes at first. But, it was so much and there was a sense of wonder playing the drums at first; a feeling like it was the first step to playing big arenas with tens of thousands of crazy fans.

It wasn't working; the pain wasn't going away just yet.

What about when they first played live? The thrill and fear of drumming in front of a judging audience, followed by the relief and adrenaline of seeing them clapping and jamming along. Then Mio tripped, and fan-service was delivered to an eager audience. Even if all the live shots from the video camera had left Ritsu in the dark, all those shows had been incredible experiences. How could she forget the live house either? A whole room full of strangers jumping from the energy that came from their playing. Ritsu remembered walking out of that place thinking, 'Well, time to quit my day job!'

_Is it working? My face doesn't feel like it's being torn apart anymore!_

Somehow, that thought sent a surge of relief through her, and suddenly, even the horrible pain between her legs was lessened. She was suffering less, and therefore it was somehow better. The words spoken towards her had been true. The more you suffer, the worse it was. This worked inversely as well.

The trip to London; helping Mugi get hit in the face; just messing around in department store with her friends; the trip to Kyoto; making a recruitment video; playing for the new students at university; and then crying in Mio's arms when they learned about Yui… All there was between them, it had fallen apart so suddenly and Ritsu now realized that wasn't the way it should have been. A tragedy was a tragedy, but they had dishonored and disrespected Yui for drifting away. For fuck's sake, Mugi had transferred to another school and nobody said a word to stop her! Instead of moping around, alone, disconnected from one another, they should have written a song for Ui and Yui's memory! In fact, when Ritsu got out of this, she was going to gather Mugi and Mio and make that happen. This wasn't the end.

_This._

_ Is._

_ Not._

_ The._

_ End._

Ritsu repeated the mantra in her head, and realized that this was working. The pain was replaced by a throbbing numbness that enticed most of her body. Gone was the suffering and the pain, replaced by the same excitement she felt just before hitting the first note of their first live show. It was there again, the spark and drive to make music with her friends and face everything in the world together. If that hadn't been lost in the first place, she wouldn't have been there.

Around her, the darkness began to fade and she was in that garden again. Ritsu scrambled forward towards that black pond; towards Mugi's naked form in the shallow water. She appeared to be sleeping, and wonderfully detached from the horrors around her. She was beautiful too; Ritsu wasn't afraid to say that now.

"_NO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?_" The Entity's voice boomed around her, now enraged. "_WHY AREN'T YOU SUFFERING? YOU SHOULD BE ON YOUR KNEES YOU WORM!_"

"That's what you get for bringing Mugi into this." Ritsu said just as her feet touched the dark waters. "It's your own fault."

"_NO I JUST NEED ANOTHER MINUTE! STAY AWAY FROM HER! WHY WON'T YOU SUFFER?_" His voice was frantic and desperate, like a child failing to get his way. Ritsu felt some smug satisfaction at knocking an all power entity down a notch. That was what he got for bringing one of her friends into this. It wasn't just Mugi. She would have done the same for Mio; for Azusa; or for Yui. She made it to the sleeping blonde and scooped her up in her arms with some degree of effort. Mugi wasn't wet, which was just another impossibility. This water didn't seem to really be water, because despite being ankle deep, Ritsu's socks weren't wet at all.

_Okay Mugi, maybe you could lose a few kilos_…

Ritsu grunted, turned around with the blonde in her arms, and ran back the way she came. It was hard to do, and she was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion already. All around her, the Entity of Suffering screamed and ranted like the child Ritsu thought he truly was.

"_NO! PUT HER BACK, I NEED HER! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING; LET YOU BE THE QUEEN OF MY NEW REALITY! YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT JUST PUT HER BACK! I HAVE NO FORM TO MANIFEST IN, WITHOUT HER I'LL DIE!_"

"Which is just fine by me." Ritsu smugly smirked. "Next time, find someone other than one of my friends. Oh wait; there won't be a next time, aha!"

Around her, the ground shuddered and shook as if a great earthquake was threatening to tear it apart. It resonated in chorus with the Entity's screams and cries. She fell forward, clutching Mugi tight and hitting the ground with her shoulder. It was right on her bullet wound, which hurt, but was nothing compared to what she had endured to get there. Ritsu rolled on her back, and tried to sit up, but couldn't with the ground shaking so much. It felt like the whole world was falling apart around her.

_Okay, even if we die here, at least nobody else wins from it. I saved Mugi and… I guess that's it. Show's over folks, time to go home, remember to tip your waitresses._

It really _did_ seem like the world was falling apart around her. Dirt was crumbling away in chunks and falling down into a black abyss, leaving holes all over the garden's landscape. Fighting through the quaking earth, Ritsu managed to get to her feet with Mugi still in her arms. The blonde stirred a bit in her sleep, but was still blissfully gone from reality. As Ritsu ran with her, trying so hard to reach the door out of here, she couldn't help but think Mugi looked kind of cute.

_You know, I should have thought of this BEFORE having to escape the crumbling World of Suffering. _

The path she had taken seemed to go on forever, with no door in sight, and more land around her was disappearing. It didn't seem like she was going to make it.

_If I end up falling forever, I hope Mugi wakes up so I have some company while we starve to death in midair. _

The ground disappeared beneath her, and her heart sank as she realized she was free falling now. Mugi slipped from her grasp, barely illuminated now against a backdrop of pitch blackness. Ritsu grabbed her wrist and managed to keep hold of her as all sight disappeared with the light. She was too exhausted to scream at the feeling of free falling into the unknown.

_Are we going to die?_

**THE FINAL REUNION**

"Ricchan~" A voice whispered through the darkness.

_Are we dead now? _Ritsu thought, and sat up from wherever she had been laying. It felt like grass, or flowers, like she was in a field. She squinted at the bright light above her, and could only make out two forms in front of her. They seemed familiar, and neither of them were Mugi. They somehow made her feel safe, and something told her that they were only good.

"W-Where's Mugi?" She groggily asked.

"Right next to you, silly!" The voice told her in a happy, chirpy tone.

_That voice, it couldn't be… This has to be a dream._

She reached over to her right and felt something warm and soft. Her eyesight returned slowly, and she realized she was resting her hand right on Mugi's naked left breast. Giving a quick gasp of embarrassment, Ritsu turned to face the two who had woken her. Sitting there was Azusa again, still in that uniform with no shoes or socks. Next to her was Hirasawa Yui, in a similar state of dress. The latter smiled before lunging forward and grabbing Ritsu into a tight hug.

"Ricchan!" She squealed, practically squeezing the life out of her. "I missed you so much!"

"Ha-ha, I missed you too, Yui." Ritsu laughed and hugged her back just as tight. Her laughter was impossible to control, and soon she wasn't able to stop it at all. The two of them hugged each other, laughing hysterically until they were in tears and rolling around in the field of grass and beautiful white flowers. This was Ritsu's happy ending it looked like. The princess was saved, and she got to meet her old friends again one last time. After a few moments of laughing and hugging, the two sat up, now covered with bits of grass and flower petals.

Azusa scooted close to them and smiled. "You did it, Ritsu-senpai. He's gone. The unnatural suffering and pain won't happen anymore. There won't be any more people ending up like Yui-senpai and me."

"It's nice here with Azu-nyan." Yui said, smiling as well. "But it's still not as good as what it was like before. I miss playing Gitah with you playing drums, and Mio-chan playing bass, Ricchan."

"Don't forget about Mugi-senpai and me." Azusa added.

"I was getting there!"

Ritsu laughed once more, and felt tears still running down her face. "We haven't played a note without you guys, or not together at least. It's just not the same."

"You can always find other guitarists." Azusa told her.

"They can even play my songs if they want!" Yui happily assured her. "I just hope Gitah's new family is nice to him."

"I'm sure he's in the hands of Eddie Vedder right now." Ritsu told her. "And with every note of his is yours."

"That doesn't make any sense." Azusa giggled.

"I know, it doesn't." Ritsu sighed. "I'm excited to see you two, and I say stupid stuff when I'm excited."

"Does that mean _Pearl Jam_ doesn't have Gitah?" Yui pouted.

"Well, I didn't say that…" Ritsu was smiling again. "I, uh, anyway… h-how are you two?"

"That's kind of hard to answer." Azusa told her. "I guess we're good. We have each other, and that's what really counts. Sometimes it gets boring though, but with Suffering gone, I feel a lot safer. Thanks, Ritsu-senpai."

"Yeah, thanks Ricchan!"

The twin-tailed girl lowered her voice and put a hand on Yui's shoulder. "She had it really bad for a while, Ritsu-senpai. You have no idea how much of a hero you are right now."

Yui grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, it was pretty scary for a while. Then Azu-nyan came and I wasn't ever lonely again!"

Ritsu smiled at that, and felt insurmountable warmth at knowing these two had each other and were happy. She felt like asking Yui questions about Ui's death, or what happened during that time, but decided it was better not knowing. It was better to just enjoy the moment and not even think about the bad parts anymore. It felt so surreal, the happy ending before her. She honestly hadn't expected things to go so smoothly like they had. Well, they hadn't gone smoothly, and Ritsu had been pretty close to not making it. She didn't want to think about what would have happened if she hadn't figured out how to break from Suffering's spell. It had been close, _too _close, and she had to make sure not to take that for granted. And it wasn't like everything had turned out perfect. She had more or less ruined her relationship with her parents in the midst of all of this, and was probably going to have to go underground for a while to avoid them. That was a sad thought, but the ends justified the means.

She couldn't help but smile at how things had turned out. Ritsu closed her eyes and thought about how she had felt when Azusa's mother gave her and Mugi the news. She remembered that feeling of being lost, devastated, and confused. Then there was the horror of investigating the unknown, learning things she wished she hadn't, and finally confronting Ayumu and killing her. It had really been a crazy and horrifying road, but Ritsu could take solace in the ending.

Her eyes glanced at Mugi laying there, sleeping soundly, and still unclothed. She knew she was going to need Mugi's help to get through the aftermath of this. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep soundly at night, or get over some of the things she had seen and endured easily.

"She's going to wake up soon." Azusa pointed out, noticing Ritsu looking down at Mugi.

"That's a relief; I was kind of worried for her." The drummer sighed.

"I can't wait to talk to Mugi-chan!" Yui chirped.

Azusa stood up and shook her head. "No, we can't let her see us. Mugi-senpai barely knows what happened. Remember, she's been unconscious for most of this? And she can't even remember the woods in the first place."

"Oh yeah…" Yui pouted, and stood up with her.

Ritsu looked confused, "How do you know all this, Azusa? It feels like you know everything."

"Well, we weren't going to let you go through all of this without someone watching your back, right?" Azusa replied. "I just didn't want to reveal myself until it was really important to do so. I didn't want Yui-senpai to be here with you at all, but I couldn't say no."

"Why didn't you want her to be here?" Ritsu asked.

"Because we want you to live a normal life." She replied, with Yui nodding in agreement. "We thought if you didn't know about any of this, you'd be happier."

"That's right." Yui agreed.

Ritsu smiled at them. "Thanks. I appreciate you looking out for the two of us. Is this… Is this goodbye then?"

"'Fraid so." Yui pouted, and stepped away to pick something up out of the grass. It was Ritsu's leather jacket, and it was anyone's guess how it got there. "Every knight needs their armor, Ricchan! Oh yeah, Mugi-chan's cards and phone are in the pockets too."

The drummer was smiling so hard it felt like her cheeks were going to split (but in a good way this time) as Yui draped the jacket over her shoulders. She sniffled and said, "I love you two. Don't forget that, okay?"

"I love you too, Ricchan!" Yui bent down to hug her one last time.

"Bye-bye, Ritsu-senpai." Azusa gave her a wave and a smile. "We don't forget that, or you either. Don't worry."

Ritsu sat there and watched them walk away before Mugi could wake up. They disappeared into the trees beyond the edge of the meadow. That's what it was, a meadow blooming with the flowers of May. Around it, the trees were bright with green leaves like they should have been. The sky was blue, and the air was humid and warm, with the buzzing of cicadas humming over the drone of nearby society. Alone with Mugi now, Ritsu scooted over next to her. She stroked the back of Mugi's cheek with her hand and wondered how soon it would be before she woke up.

_Screw you, Entity; I'm not a shitty friend. Maybe not the greatest friend for getting a girl like Mugi into a situation like this, but hey, I do my best. Plus, I'm going to make it up to her, you'll see._

She sat there for at least twenty minutes, just staring up at the sky and listening to the buzzing of cicadas. This was the May she remembered growing up here. It felt so right and peaceful with the woods the way they were supposed to be. The dead trees, leaves, and grass were things of another world, one that was now gone and hopefully gone for good. Ritsu wondered how many people she had inadvertently saved by removing the Entity of Suffering. That was a small comfort to think about. She didn't feel like a big hero though, since she hadn't fought the Entity in some kind of battle or anything. She had just thought about happy moments and moved Mugi and ended up making the Entity kill himself.

It was a bit ironic considering how many people he had driven into suicide.

"Rich…chan?" Mugi's sleepy voice whispered in confusion. Ritsu heard the sound of grass rustling as the blonde sat up and yawned.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Ritsu smiled at her.

"Where are we?" She looked around, blinking the last bits of sleep out of her eyes. "What happened? I could have sworn I heard Yui-chan and Azusa-chan's voices, or was I dreaming?"

"You were dreaming." Ritsu replied, and leaned over to drape her jacket over Mugi's shoulders. "Here, you might wanna cover up."

"Oh, thanks." Mugi yawned again and slipped on the jacket before buttoning it up. It only went to her waist, so Ritsu was going to have to loan her the skirt and walk around in her panties or something so they were at least both covered. "Ricchan, is this a dream?"

"No, sorry."

"Oh." Her eyes went downcast. "You rescued me, didn't you?"

"I did." She nodded. "What do you remember?"

"Ayumu took me into her car…" Mugi began, speaking barely above a whisper. "She had a gun and I was terrified. I tried calling you, and then she took the phone and ran it over as we were leaving. I was sad because it was a graduation present, and I thought I was never going to see you or my parents again. She drove us to the edge of the woods and… I don't remember what happened then. I remember having dreams where there were a lot of…"

"You don't have to tell me." Ritsu told her, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She continued anyway, "I dreamt that the world was falling apart, kind of. There were monsters everywhere, people were hurting, and I knew it was somehow my fault. That was the scariest part; I couldn't help anyone because they would just run away and call me a demon. It was horrible…"

"There there…" Ritsu hugged her and let the blonde cry on her shoulder. She was shaken up pretty badly and clung to the drummer for some time, quietly weeping. In the meantime, Ritsu wished she could have gotten more painful revenge on the Entity for making poor Tsumugi feel this way. She gently cradled the blonde, and felt this was almost ironic in a sense. Mugi had gotten off so much easier than Ritsu had in the long run. She hadn't been made to suffer debilitating pain, or had even known what was at stake. She had just been given frightening dreams and was held at gun point. Hell, Ritsu had been _shot_, stripped naked, and had to pee in a sink to avoid trouble. She was _mad_ about what happened at Ayumu's house.

That didn't mean she would trade places with Mugi. No, it was just fine the way it was now.

Eventually, Mugi let go of her and sniffled. "Your shoulder was bleeding. S-She shot you!"

"It was just a scrape, don't worry." Ritsu put both her hands on Mugi's shoulders, trying to calm her down. "Trust me, that wasn't even close to the worst thing I had to… No, this isn't fair of me; I'm going to make you feel guilty. Just… don't ever run off like that again, okay? I can't keep chasing after you; it's bad for my health."

She had forced a smile, but her joke was lost on Mugi. The blonde sniffled and hugged Ritsu tight, "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry for asking you that stupid question! I'm sorry for almost ruining our friendship! I'm sorry for making you have to come and rescue me!"

"Hey, hey, don't cry again!" Ritsu did her best to sound like she wasn't in the least bit upset. She wasn't, but she had to reassure Mugi about this.

"What do we do now?" Mugi didn't let her go, and soon Ritsu fell backwards, pulling Mugi down with her and returning the hug. She did her best not to think about how Mugi was naked from the waist down.

"You get to borrow my skirt for one." Ritsu answered. "Then we find a hotel without getting busted for indecent exposure."

"What about your house?" Mugi asked, concern laden in her voice.

"That's a no-go. I… sort of mucked things up when dealing with Ayumu. I think my dad wants to skin me alive now…"

"Oh no. Don't tell this is because of-"

"It isn't." Ritsu stopped her. "I'm just saying we won't be able to go back there for a while. Your credit cards and stuff are in the pockets there. I'll pay for what I can to get us back to Tokyo, but I may need your help. Plus, I was thinking of treating you out to a nice evening in the big city too."

"That sounds lovely." Mugi swooned. "I promise I'll be more sensitive to the situation this time and stop being so clingy. I realize that was wrong of me, and then what I asked you…"

"Hey, you can be as touchy feely as you want next time… I mean, within reason of course. I don't want us getting thrown out of anywhere." Ritsu smiled as she stroked Mugi's soft hair. "Just, uh, kind of take it slow with me, okay? I'm new to this…"

"You're making it sound a lot more like a date." Mugi nervously giggled.

"Hey, dates are what girlfriends go on together, right?"

**THE END**

_**Author's Notes: **_First and foremost I want to thank everyone who took the time to read and review. As shallow as it sounds, the reviews were what motivated me to really work hard and finish this. Midway through writing the story, I started becoming overly critical, and thinking most of what I had was shit. The reassurance that it's not awful was much appreciated. My original plan was to write all ten chapters then release them at once, but I guess I needed feedback to keep me motivated. So once, thanks again to everyone who reviewed up to this point. Another thanks to my beta-reader throughout this, _ProfessorRude_. If you've seen his review for other stories, then you can imagine how his attitude towards much of this story was. Now here are some 'behind the scenes' things if you're at all interested:

The premise of the story was thought up after I realized I really liked the dynamic between Ritsu and Mugi in my previous story _Afterdark Tea Time_. I decided I wanted it to be a sequel to _Feeding a Dream_ and _Nightmare_ after listening to the song _Escape of the Dove_ by _The Fall of Every Season_. The name '_All There Was_' was taken from the lyrics where the line "Is this all there is?" is repeated several times. Originally it didn't have any meaning, but found its own as I was writing. The first two chapters were written under the premise that Mugi and Ritsu would come back and learn that Azusa had killed herself. I wanted to have them investigate and explore into the woods and give meaning to a lot of the confusing things in my other horror stories. The biggest thing I decided on though, was that I wanted a happy ending for once.

The original outline was going to have Ritsu as a full-fledged cop exploring this ruined town inhabited by cultists of the Entity of Suffering. That's where Mugi would be kidnapped and send Ritsu on her wild journey. There were a few major issues with this right of the bat. It bore too much resemblance to what I wrote before this. Just Ritsu going through scary places, blah blah blah, it's been done before by me. I think you can see in the last three chapters that I was trying to break away from the horror mold by having Ritsu be a confident bad ass trying to save her friend.

All in all I'm really happy with this story and hope you all liked it. Sadly, this marks the end of my horror stories. I've done them to death and am now moving onto bigger and better things.


End file.
